


Alice Harkness and the Chamber of Secrets

by cazmalfoy



Series: Alice Harkness [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Past Jack Harkness/Lucia Moretti, Past Jack Harkness/Remus Lupin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-05 20:41:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazmalfoy/pseuds/cazmalfoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Jack and Ianto make progress in their relationship, Alice embarks on her second year at Hogwarts.<br/>A Torchwood version of the second Harry Potter book. Story 2/7</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alice Harkness and the Chamber of Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> This is the original as it was posted on 07/06/2010. I intend on re-writing this, and will be replacing this with that version eventually. But in the meantime, please enjoy.

**Chapter 1: Clothes Make The Wizard**

The summer holidays went by faster than any one had ever thought possible. Jack didn’t want Alice to leave, while the Slytherin couldn’t wait to get back to school; she missed her friends more than she had thought she would.

Jack had suggested that she write to her friends and arrange to meet them in Diagon Alley on August 17th, which they had quickly agreed to.

If they didn’t leave soon, then they would be too late to meet them. Alice sighed heavily and glanced at her watch; she was sure that Jack was taking forever to get dressed on purpose.

“Come on, Dad!” she cried, leaning on the banister and craning her neck in an attempt to look up the stairs; she could see that Jack’s bedroom door was open, but couldn’t see him from the angle she was standing at.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Jack retorted.

Alice sighed again and slumped down onto the bottom step, sulkily folding her arms across her chest.

Hours later – or at least it felt like it – she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and jumped up.

“Finally!” she exclaimed. “The shops are going to be closed by the time we…” She trailed off when she turned to face Jack. Her eyes raked over his body, taking in his attire before she burst out laughing, making Jack jump.

The wizard’s eyes narrowed and he glared at his daughter. “Stop laughing,” he instructed. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing,” he added, knowing immediately that she was laughing at his clothes.

Alice scoffed. “Yeah, if you’re a Victorian Goth,” she retorted, still chuckling to herself as she shook her head.

Her father was dressed entirely in black from top to bottom. He was wearing a Victorian style floor length coat with brass buttons across his chest. Under the collar, Alice could see a polo necked jumper underneath the shirt he was wearing. He had a black cloak over one arm and a cane in his hand; Alice could see the handle of Jack’s wand at one end of the cane – clearly the wand was inside it.

“Can’t you get changed?” she pleaded, looking up into her father’s eyes - thankful that they were still blue, at least.

Jack shook his head, leaning the cane against the wall as he unfolded the cloak. “I’ve always worn robes like this; even when I was in school,” he told her, sweeping the cloak around his shoulders and fastening it at his neck. “I don’t own any that aren’t this style. Besides, I happen to like it. Don’t you think it suits me?” he added with a pout, running his hand over the lapels on his jacket.

Alice sighed and tilted her head, studying her father’s clothes. “It does,” she eventually confessed. “But, don’t you think it’s a little… obvious?” she whispered.

Jack chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace and pressing a kiss against her hair. “You’ll be surprised how obvious you can be and people will still not pay attention.”

The young witch chuckled and pulled out of his arms, grabbing her own cloak from where it was hanging over the banister. “For some one who pretends to be a recluse, you sure love to be the centre of attention, don’t you?” she muttered, fastening the clasp.

Jack laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? Old habits die hard, I suppose.” Still grinning at her, he held his hand out to her, grabbing the cane from where he had left it. “Shall we, Miss Harkness?”

Alice raised a questioning eyebrow and placed her hand in his. “What are you going to-?”

She didn’t finish her sentence because she couldn’t breathe. It felt like she was being crushed from every direction and she’d suddenly gone blind, she decided when the world was plunged into darkness.

When she was certain that she was going to die, the world was flooded with light and the iron weight across her chest was finally lifted.

Leaning forward and resting her hands on her thighs, she looked up at the building they were in front of and frowned. It was the Leaky Cauldron. 

She started when she felt a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles. “You okay?” Jack asked softly from beside her.

Alice nodded mutely, batting his hand away as she tried to regain her breath. When she was sure that she could actually get words out, she turned to Jack and punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

“Ow!” Jack exclaimed, rubbing his sore arm and glaring at her.

“You could have at least warned me before you apparated, you bas-,”

“Alice Harkness,” Jack said with a warning tone in his voice.

Alice flushed a little, but otherwise didn’t stop glaring at him. “Idiot,” she finished lamely. “Can you let me know what you’re planning on doing next time?” she demanded.

Jack rolled his eyes and tapped two fingers to his temple in a mock salute. “Yes, Ma’am,” he muttered, pushing the door to the Leaky Cauldron open and stepping aside to let her in. 

The Leaky Cauldron was almost empty as they moved through; everyone was outside, enjoying the wonderful August sunshine. Jack nodded to Tom as they passed, but they didn’t stop until they reached the door on the other side of the pub.

“What do you want to get first?” Jack asked as they left the pub and stepped out into the bright sunshine once more.

“Will you get me some ink, while I go in to Flourish and Blotts to get the books I need?” Alice asked, consulting the list that had arrived a few days earlier as they stepped through the archway into Diagon Alley.

Jack stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “Alice, if this is about not wanting to be seen with me when I’m dressed like this, I’ll take you home right now and you can order your books by owl. You shouldn’t care about what people look like; I raised you better than that,” he muttered; glancing in the windows of the shops they passed. He frowned when he saw his reflection and reached up, spiking up a few strands of hair, before continuing down the street.

Alice rolled her eyes and linked her arm through his. “I’d completely forgotten you were dressed like that,” she stated, looking up at him with an angelic smile. “I just thought that if you get the ink and I get the books, it’ll mean less shopping time and we can go get some ice cream.”

Jack’s mouth fell open in surprise and he blushed lightly. “Oh,” he murmured. “Okay,” he consented. “You get the books and I’ll deal with the ink.”

Alice grinned and held her hand out expectantly to him. “I need some money,” she stated, the corners of her mouth turning up in a smirk.

The wizard stared at her. “You get spending money every week; don’t think I don’t know that you’ve got money of your own,” he stated, pushing his robe out of the way and reaching into the inside pocket of his coat regardless.

When he placed several Galleons in her hand, Alice stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Jack rolled his eyes at her actions and pushed her back a step. “I won’t be long. I’ll meet you in the…”

“Horror section of Flourish and Blotts,” Alice finished for him, earning her a glare from Jack. “What?” she asked defensively. “It’s the easiest section to find!”

Jack chuckled and shook his head. “Go on,” he instructed, an affectionate smile on his face as he nudged her in the direction of the bookstore. “Before I change my mind and make you come with me.” Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes. “And hold my hand,” he added.

Alice’s jaw dropped open in horror as she glared at him. “Dad!” she exclaimed. “Stop it!” she ordered, running quickly into Flourish and Blotts.

~

**Chapter 2: Gabriel D’Abaddon**

A short while later, Jack ducked into Flourish and Blotts and felt his jaw literally fall open in surprise when he saw the size of the crowd.

“Hey,” he greeted, approaching the counter and grinning at the sales assistant; a young witch with red hair whose eyes went wide and her face went as red as her hair when Jack smiled at her.

She smoothed her hair down and squared her shoulders. “Hi,” she replied, smiling nervously at him. “How can I help you?”

Jack nodded over to the crowd. “What’s going on?”

“Oh,” she murmured, glaring in the direction of the gathering. “Jackson Lake is signing copies of his new book,” she added, her nose turning up a little in disgust.

Jack scowled deeply. “Ah,” he responded. “Thanks.” He flashed her another grin and winked at her before moving away. He chuckled to himself when he saw her flush hotly, before turning to whisper excitedly to her co-workers about the ‘gorgeous man in black’.

He sighed and moved across the store, heading for the horror section to wait for his daughter. He growled lightly when a witch bumped into him on the way past, forcing him to jump to the side to avoid her. “Will you watch where you’re going?” he snapped, thrusting his hands in his pockets and storming towards the bookcase where he was supposed to meet his daughter.

Jack considered browsing the books, before dismissing the idea with a shake of his head; he tried to avoid reading books written by his competition. He heaved another sigh and leant against the bookcase, glaring at the crowd in annoyance. 

He wished he had known about the signing; otherwise he would have suggested going to Diagon Alley on a different day. Jackson Lake was one of the most annoying authors Jack had ever heard of; thankfully, he had never had the misfortune of actually meeting the other man. 

Jack stood on his tiptoes, trying to see over the crowd of people in an attempt to spot Alice. When he couldn’t see her, he scowled and leant back against the bookcase, folding his arms grumpily across his chest.

As he waited, his eyes flickered up the books he was leaning against and he chuckled wryly when he realised that he was standing below a section of Gabriel D’Abaddon’s books. Turning his head to the side, he saw that there was a pile of books as high as his hip a foot away; right below a sign that announced the book was a new best seller – which filled him with a feeling of smug satisfaction. 

A young blond – whom Jack immediately recognised as a Malfoy and assumed was Alice’s friend, Draco - pushed his way through the crowd and grinned when he saw the pile of books Jack was standing next to. “There they are!” Draco murmured, barely loud enough for others to hear - although Jack heard him as clear as if it had been shouted. 

Draco didn’t even acknowledge the stranger standing in front of the bookcase as he took a step closer, grabbing the top book from the pile. The author watched in amusement as Draco flipped the copy of Devil’s Angel over and read the blurb with a look of rapture on his face. 

“Did you get me some ink?” Alice asked, moving around Draco and stepping up to her father, looking up at him with suspicion in her eyes. 

Jack rolled his eyes and patted his pocket, nodding his head with a pout on his face. “I said I would, didn’t I?” he asked defensively.

She stuck her tongue out at him and Jack raised an eyebrow. “Oh that’s mature,” he retorted. He looked over at Draco, who had been joined by Owen and they were reading through the first few pages of the book.

Alice followed his gaze and laughed. “You know you’re supposed to buy that before you read it, right?” she suggested.

Draco didn’t even lift his head as he murmured, “Just because you can’t read, Harkness.”

Jack laughed lightly and glanced around them. Everyone was still obsessing over Lake, so he turned back to Draco. “Can I have a look at that?” he asked quietly, nodding to the book he was holding in his hand.

Finally Draco lifted his head and clutched the book to his chest. “Why?” he demanded with suspicion in his eyes. “Who are you anyway?”

Alice scoffed and pointed up to Jack. “Draco, Owen, this is my dad, Jack,” she introduced them.

“Oh,” the blond murmured, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. “Nice to meet you,” he said, looking up at Jack. “But you’re still not having my book. Get your own.”

The older wizard looked imploringly at his daughter and Alice sighed. “Just trust him,” she instructed, reaching out and plucking the book from Draco’s hand before he could react. 

Jack pulled his wand from the cane and conjured a Sharpie pen as Alice handed him the book. Popping the cap off, he flicked to the first blank page and began writing on it.

“What – What do you think you’re doing?” Draco demanded, glaring at both Alice and Jack, and trying to snatch the book from him. “You’re ruining it! You…” he trailed off when Jack handed him the book back and he saw what was written.

“‘Draco, thanks for reading. Hope you like this one as much as the rest. Always, Gabriel D’Abaddon’,” he read. His jaw fell open and looked up at Jack in shock. “You… I… You…” he spluttered, seemingly unable to form actual words.

Jack grinned and reached out for Owen’s book. “Close your mouth,” he instructed, flipping Owen’s book open and signing the first blank page, before handing the book back to him.

Alice laughed and leant against the bookcase. “Guys,” she began, “you know I said Gabriel D’Abaddon was my neighbour?” They nodded mutely. “I might not have been totally honest with you,” she confessed, her fingers toying with the hem of her cloak.

Draco stared down at the book in his hands before glancing up at Jack in admiration. “You’re Gabriel D’Abaddon?” he whispered, his voice filled with awe.

Jack nodded and put the pen in his pocket. “That’s what they tell me.”

“Wow!” Owen breathed, his grip tightening on the book and looking up at Jack with wide eyes.

Simultaneously, Owen and Draco turned and glared at Alice. “You said he was your neighbour,” Draco accused.

Alice rolled her eyes. “You didn’t believe me that the Doctor is my great-uncle; why would you believe me that my dad’s your favourite author? Just promise you won’t start acting weird,” Alice instructed. “It’s not a big deal.”

Draco and Owen shook their heads, both insisting that them discovering Jack was their favourite author would not be a problem.

“Draco, there you are,” a voice said from a few feet away and the four of them turned to see a tall blond standing underneath the arch. Alice had to swallow a laugh when she saw that he was dressed in a similar style to Jack; in the back of her mind, she wondered if it was a wizard trend that she hadn’t realised.

“Father,” Draco greeted with a nod of his head. “These are my friends, Owen and Alice,” he introduced. “And this is-,”

Lucius looked up at Jack and a look of recognition flittered across his face. “Jack Harkness,” he murmured, extending his hand to Jack. “There were rumours you’d seen sense and returned to our world. I never believed they were actually true.”

Jack scowled and briefly shook Lucius’ hand, before releasing it. “It’s only temporary, Lucius. School supplies have to be bought, and all.”

“Ah,” Lucius murmured, his gaze turning to Lake’s book signing for a moment, before fixing on his son once more. “Draco, if you’re finished we really should be leaving.”

Owen nudged Draco in the back and the blond turned his head, glaring at him, before looking back at Lucius. “Actually, Father,” he began, coughing a little to clear his throat. “Alice has asked us to stay at his house tonight.”

Lucius raised an eyebrow and looked at his son. “‘Us’?” he echoed. Draco indicated to Owen and Lucius sighed heavily, studying his son for a long moment, before looking up at Jack. “Are you sure about that, Harkness?” 

Jack nodded his head, his eyes flickering over to Alice momentarily, before his gaze returned to Lucius. “Of course I’m sure,” he insisted.

Their staring contest continued for a short while longer, before Lucius blinked and broke the connection. “Draco,” he said, looking down at his son. “I’ll pick you up around lunch time. Where do you live now, Harkness?”

Jack shook his head. “That won’t be necessary,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ll bring him back here to the Leaky Cauldron.” Lucius raised an eyebrow and Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t think you’d want to venture into the Muggle world.”

Lucius’ eyes narrowed and Jack could tell that he was seriously considering revoking his permission for Draco to spend the evening with his friends. He glanced down at his son, who was looking up at him imploringly and heaved a sigh. “I suppose that’s doable,” he eventually muttered through clenched teeth, throwing a glare in Jack’s direction; the other wizard knew how much Lucius detested anything to do with Muggles.

He said goodbye to Draco and nodded at Jack before turning on his heel and heading out of the store, his black cloak billowing behind him as he walked.

Jack waited until the door closed behind Lucius before turning to his daughter and placing his hands on his hips. “Aren’t you going to ask your dad if your friends can spend the night?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking down at his daughter.

Alice blushed and looked down at the ground bashfully. “Erm, I… I forgot,” she whispered. Jack rolled his eyes when she shuffled over to him and leant her head on his arm, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “Please can Owen and Draco sleep at ours tonight?” 

Jack sighed and shook his head, an affectionate smile on his face. “If it’s okay with your mum and dad,” he agreed, looking over at Owen.

Alice beamed and threw her arms around Jack, hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” she grinned. “Can we go get ice cream now?” she asked, looking up at the wizard pleadingly.

Jack heaved a mock-sigh of annoyance before nodding his head. “I think Owen and Draco had best pay for those books,” he said. “Getting arrested for stealing my own novel would just be embarrassing,” he added with a chuckle.

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes, steering her best friends in the direction of the counter. The young girl Jack had been flirting with earlier looked up and blushed red again, before smoothing her hair down when she saw Jack approaching once more.

Alice saw the action and rolled her eyes, muttering, “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” under her breath to her dad; earning her an unrepentant shrug of his shoulders in response. 

It didn’t take long for Owen and Draco to buy their books and they were soon on the way down Diagon Alley to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.

“I take it I’m buying the ice cream,” Jack commented as Alice and her friends immediately made a beeline for one of the tables. He smiled to himself and headed over to join the queue at the counter.

“Here you go,” Jack said, returning to their table a short while later with a tray in his hands. “Three ice creams with everything on them, and a vanilla sundae with strawberry syrup for me.”

He handed them the ice creams before slumping down into the only vacant seat at the table. Alice raised an eyebrow and watched as Jack began tucking into the ice cream.

“What?” he murmured around the spoon when he noticed her looking at him. 

She just rolled her eyes and turned to her friends. “Nothin’,” she muttered under her breath, continuing her conversation with Owen and Draco.

An hour later, Alice was on her third ice cream and Jack his fourth, when he felt someone’s eyes on him. He looked up quickly and felt his eyes widen in surprise when he saw a very familiar figure standing outside Quality Quidditch Supplies.

“Oh,” Jack mumbled.

Alice frowned and looked up in concern at her father. “Dad, are you okay?” she asked. “Your heart’s racing,” she whispered, leaning closer to Jack.

Jack nodded mutely and Alice turned to see what he was looking at. “Ah,” she murmured, a knowing smile spreading across her face when she saw Professor Jones. “Why don’t you go talk to him?” she questioned, looking back at her dad.

“I can’t do that,” Jack whispered, shaking his head vehemently, reaching to finish his ice cream.

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled the bowl away from him. “Just go,” she instructed. “I’m staying here with these two,” she added, nodding to Owen and Draco who were both engrossed with Devil’s Angel.

Jack stared at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?” Alice nodded and Jack grinned at her, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet. “I won’t be long.”

“Erm, Dad? You’ve got syrup on your face,” she told him, dabbing the corner of her mouth with her index finger.

Jack blushed deeply and wiped the syrup off his face. “Thanks,” he whispered, licking the syrup from the digit. He took a deep breath and turned around, slowly heading down the street.

~

**Chapter 3: Reuniting**

“Hi,” he greeted, stopping a few feet away from Ianto and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Ianto grinned at him and allowed his eyes to rake over Jack’s body. “You’re looking good,” he murmured appreciatively. “I see your taste in fashion hasn’t changed much.”

The other wizard looked down at his outfit and shrugged his shoulders. “Just something I had lying around,” he waved his hand dismissively. Jack threw a look over his shoulder at Florean Fortescue's where Alice was watching them intently. “Do you… Do you want to go get a drink?” he asked, turning back to Ianto and trying to pretend that they weren’t being watched.

Ianto followed Jack’s gaze, seeing Alice sitting with Draco and Owen. “I don’t want to interrupt,” he said softly, looking into Jack’s blue eyes.

Jack chuckled and shook his head. “Alice was the one that made me come talk to you,” he confessed.

“She made you come over here?” Ianto asked, raising an eyebrow and quirking a smile at Jack. “Your twelve-year-old daughter made you come talk to me?”

Jack laughed. “Don’t look at me like that,” he whined. “She can be very bossy when she wants.” Ianto chuckled and shook his head affectionately. “But, you’re right; I probably shouldn’t, anyway. Owen and Draco are sleeping at our house tonight,” he explained.

“Ah,” Ianto murmured, disappointment flitting across his face. “That’s okay,” he assured the other man. “Another time.”

“Wait!” Jack exclaimed, just as Ianto was about to leave. “I think I can have one drink,” he whispered, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Ianto grinned brightly and Jack couldn’t help but return the smile. “I’ll just have to tell her I won’t be long.”

He turned around and saw that Alice was looking at them. “I think she already knows there’s been a change of plan,” Ianto stated, the corner of his mouth turning up in a smile.

Jack’s eyes narrowed and he glared at his daughter. “I know I taught her not to eavesdrop,” he muttered darkly. 

Ianto watched as Alice shrugged her shoulders and mouthed something at her father. Jack flushed hotly and glared at her again; Alice merely rolled her eyes and said something else.

Jack sighed and nodded his head, before saying, “I’ll pick you up at noon.” 

He turned back to Ianto and the other wizard looked at him questioningly. “What was that about?” he asked. “I thought Draco and Owen were staying at your house tonight?”

“They were,” Jack agreed with a nod of his head. “Apparently they’ve changed their minds and are staying at Owen’s instead,” he added with a shrug of his shoulders.

“She really is too smart for her own good,” Ianto murmured. “So, do you want to go get that drink?” he asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

Jack nodded his head and they headed down the street towards the pub. They ducked under the stone archway behind the Leaky Cauldron and Jack was about to pull the door open, when he found himself pulled back. “What the-?”

Ianto pushed him back against the wall and took a step closer. “God, you look so good,” he whispered, running his hand down Jack’s chest. 

Jack gasped when Ianto’s fingers brushed over his crotch. “Ianto, what are you…?” He never finished his sentence, because Ianto leant closer and crushed their lips together. 

Their first kiss in over ten years was not sweet, nor romantic by any definition of the words. Their teeth clashed and noses bumped, but neither of them could bring themselves to care about not experiencing the perfect kiss. The only thing they could focus on was how good the other wizard felt.

Ianto was the first to break the kiss and he threw his head back, gasping for breath as his chest heaved. Jack licked his lips at the sight of the other man’s long neck exposed to him and he leant forward, running his tongue from the base of Ianto’s neck up to his jaw.

“Fuck, J,” Ianto breathed, his breath hitching as lust shot through him. He placed his hands on Jack’s shoulders and pushed him back half a step. “Don’t tease like that when we’re in public,” he scolded, looking directly into Jack’s eyes, which were slowly losing their natural shade of blue. 

Jack raised an eyebrow and took Ianto’s hands in his. “You were the one that accosted me out here,” he reminded him, sliding Ianto’s hands down to his arse. “And you exposed your neck to me,” he whispered, nuzzling Ianto’s cheek before finding his lips once more. “How was I supposed to resist trying to taste you?”

Ianto groaned low in his throat and captured Jack’s lips in his, roughly plunging his tongue into his mouth. When the other wizard was sufficiently short of breath, Ianto pulled back and grinned at him. “Take me home, J,” he instructed, his voice little more than a whisper as he ground their hips together.

Less than a minute later, Diagon Alley had vanished around them; to be replaced with a house that was so perfectly Muggle that Ianto seriously doubted it actually was Jack’s. “You couldn’t have apparated us into the bedroom?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Jack.

Jack chuckled and led him down the path, quickly unlocking the door and ushering Ianto inside. “This place is unplottable. The only person I can apparate here is Alice,” he said, locking the door and dropping the keys to the floor, not really caring where they landed. “Do you want the tour now, or in the morning?” He ran his hand down Ianto’s chest, massaging his cock through his trousers.

Ianto groaned and arched his back, trying to press more of himself into Jack’s grip. He growled when Jack pulled his hand away, laughing and shaking his head. Ianto glared at him and reached out, running his hand through Jack’s hair, pulling his head closer and crushing their mouths together.

“Later,” he whispered against Jack’s lips, his hands never stilling as they slid down Jack’s chest and unfastened his belt and zip. 

Jack groaned when he felt Ianto’s hand slip inside his pants and stroke his rapidly hardening cock. “God, Ianto,” he panted, pulling his head back and gasping for air. “I need you,” he added, running his tongue along Ianto’s jaw.

Ianto moaned softly. “I need you too,” he replied. “But not here.” He looked around at them and winced. “We’re not seventeen any more. We’re not going to fuck against the wall.”

Jack laughed and raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t be the strangest place we’ve had sex. Remember fifth-year?” he questioned, his eyes sparkling in amusement. “But you’re right,” he continued, placing his hand in Ianto’s and pulling him away from the wall. “Come on,” he instructed, pulling him up the stairs.

In the bedroom, Jack stopped and turned Ianto to face him. “God, I’ve missed you,” Jack confessed, leaning closer and running his tongue across Ianto’s jaw. As he spoke, his hands made quick work of Ianto’s cloak and jacket, before he turned his attention to the buttons on Ianto’s shirt and unfastening them carefully; knowing instinctively that the Welshman would kill him if it got ruined.

He ran his hands up Ianto’s chest, teasing his nipples with the pads of his thumbs. Ianto gasped and arched his back, leaning into Jack’s touch.

Reaching down, Ianto unfastened his trousers and let them fall to the ground before kicking them to the side.

Jack looked down and licked his lips when he saw that Ianto wasn’t wearing any underwear. “Did you come here with something specific in mind, Professor?” he asked, tearing his gaze away from Ianto’s cock with difficulty and looking him in the eye.

Ianto rolled his eyes and climbed onto the bed, crawling up so he was leaning back against the pillows. “Yes,” he stated, arranging the pillows comfortably. “And don’t pretend you didn’t hope today would end like this either,” he instructed. “You double checked your appearance in every shiny surface you could find today.”

Jack flushed hotly. “You were following me?” he demanded, placing his hands on his lips and trying to look annoyed; it wasn’t easy when he was so turned on. 

“No,” Ianto retorted. “You were just there every time I turned around; I’m surprised you didn’t see me sooner. Now,” he continued, shifting a little against the pillows, “will you get your arse over here and suck me, before I change my mind?”

Jack laughed and saluted the younger man. “Careful,” Ianto cautioned, “I might have developed a Captain kink in the ten years it’s been since we-,” he trailed off with a strangled groan as Jack crawled on the bed and expertly swallowed his cock in one swift move.

“Fuck,” Ianto breathed once he had discovered the ability to speak again. He reached down and ran his hand through Jack’s hair, urging him to take him deeper. “God, J,” he whispered, letting his legs fall open when he felt Jack’s index finger teasing his entrance.

Slowly, Jack worked his way up Ianto’s cock before letting it drop from his mouth - despite protests from the other man. “I’ve missed being called that,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the head of Ianto’s cock.

“I hope you don’t think you’re done,” Ianto snapped, forcing his eyes open – when had he even closed them, he wondered. 

Jack laughed and shook his head, before ducking and running his tongue along Ianto’s hip, where his thigh met his groin. Ianto’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as the familiar jolt of lust shot through him. Just the knowledge of what Jack was planning on doing was almost enough to make him come and he had to concentrate on not loosing control.

Jack lifted his gaze and chuckled to himself when he saw that his actions had gotten the desired response. “Some things never change,” he whispered, licking Ianto’s skin again. “Are you sure about this?” he questioned even though he wanted to do nothing more than follow his instincts. But he needed Ianto to be certain; it had been ten years, after all.

Ianto’s chest heaved in anticipation and he had to force himself to focus on Jack. “Yes,” he stated, meeting the other man’s gaze with his own to ensure his meaning wasn’t in doubt. “I’m positive.”

Jack grinned widely – the glint in his eyes making him look positively evil – and kissed Ianto’s skin once more, before biting down firmly, groaning as Ianto’s delicious taste exploded on his tongue.

Ianto gasped as jolts of pleasure shot through him and he arched his back. “Fuck,” he breathed, running his hand through Jack’s hair in encouragement.

Too soon for Ianto’s liking, Jack pulled back and ran the tip of his tongue over the angry wound on Ianto’s leg. He licked his lips and slid up Ianto’s body so they were face to face. “You like that?” he whispered, pressing his mouth against the other man’s and plunging his tongue into his mouth. 

Ianto groaned deeply and clutched at Jack’s shoulders. He could taste the coppery taste of his blood in Jack’s tongue and it made his cock instantly harder. “You’re wearing too many clothes as always,” Ianto whispered, reaching up and unfastening the cloak from where it was still fastened around Jack’s neck.

Jack rolled his eyes and got to his feet, allowing the velvet material of the cloak to fall to the floor as he quickly rid himself of his other clothes. “Is that better?” he questioned, crawling back onto the bed and capturing Ianto’s lips once more. 

The other man let out a moan and shook his head, never breaking the kiss as he slid one of his hands down Jack’s back, cupping his arse and pulling him closer. “It would be much better if you’d hurry up and fuck me already,” Ianto whispered, his breath hot against Jack’s lips.

Jack chuckled and shook his head, reaching between their bodies and slowly stroking Ianto’s cock. “I’m not going to fuck you today,” he decided, nipping at Ianto’s lower lip with his fanged teeth before kissing him deeper.

Ianto raised an eyebrow and broke the kiss, pushing Jack away as he glared at him. “Why the fuck not?” he demanded, gasping when Jack squeezed his cock.

Jack sighed and shifted his hips so their cocks were aligned. “It’s been ten years since we were last together; I’m not going to rush our first time after that long.” Ianto rolled his eyes and Jack shrugged his shoulders unrepentantly. “Besides, I want to see if I can still make you come as hard as I used to, without actually being inside you.”

Ianto groaned and moved a little so he could wrap his leg around Jack – the opposite leg to the one Jack had been biting. He slid his hand down Jack’s back, digging his fingernails into the skin just above Jack’s arse.

Jack wrapped his fingers around both their cocks as best as he could and began stroking them; slowly at first and then with increased speed as Ianto’s chest began to heave and his moans began to get louder.

“Fuck, J,” Ianto panted, canting his hips up and pushing himself into Jack’s hand. “So fucking good,” he added, placing his hand over Jack’s and stroking them with the other wizard.

This time it was Jack’s breath that hitched and he tried to warn Ianto that he wouldn’t last much longer, but he couldn’t form the words and he came with a cry, coating their hands and stomachs.

Ianto felt his own balls tighten at the sight of Jack losing himself to orgasm and he reached up, pulling Jack down and crushing their mouths together as he came so hard he saw stars.

~

**Chapter 4: Julius and Caledonious**

Ianto woke the next morning and rolled over, wincing at the pain that shot from his leg. He lifted the covers and grimaced when he saw the bruise on his skin. The wound itself was already healing – Jack’s saliva was wonderful like that – but it would still take a few days before it had vanished completely.

He turned his head and glanced at Jack, smiling when he saw that the other man was still fast asleep. The other wizard looked so much more relaxed in his sleep that he did normally; he had for as long as Ianto could remember.

Jack looked so relaxed that Ianto couldn’t bring himself to wake him up. Slowly, Ianto threw the covers back and climbed out of the bed. He grabbed his shirt and pants from where Jack had thrown them the night before and tiptoed from the room, closing the door behind him.

After showering he dressed in his trousers and shirt, before making his way down the stairs. There was a pile of post sitting on the doormat and he picked it up on his way past. He dumped it on the kitchen table before he filled the kettle to make himself a coffee. Unfortunately, after a quick search of the cupboards, he discovered that Jack didn’t have any and he would have to settle for a tea – the other wizard had never liked coffee.

While the kettle was boiling, he heard footsteps above him and the toilet flush. Knowing that Jack would be down after a quick shower, Ianto crossed the room and pulled open the cupboard where he had discovered Jack kept his cups.

Placing a teabag in another cup, he turned around and leant back against the counter, waiting for the water to boil. 

As he waited, his eyes roamed around the kitchen; lingering on the pile of post sat on the table. He frowned deeply when he saw who the top letter was addressed to, before stalking forward and snatching the envelope up and staring down at the addressee.

“Morning,” Jack stated sleepily, entering the kitchen and immediately crossing to the kettle; pouring the boiling water into the cups Ianto had set out. He frowned when Ianto didn’t answer him and he turned to face him. “Ianto, is there something wrong?” he asked, crossing the room to stand next to his lover.

Ianto blinked; finally realising that Jack was standing beside him. He turned his head to meet Jack’s confused gazes. “I picked your post up on my way past the door,” he stated, handing the other man the envelope.

“Ah,” Jack murmured, taking the envelope from Ianto. It was a letter from his publisher in the Muggle world - no doubt confirming the publication in their world of ‘The Devil’s Blood’.

“That’s addressed to Gabriel D’Abaddon,” Ianto stated, his voice little more than a whisper as he pointed at the letter.

Jack winced a little and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’ve heard of him then?” he asked.

Ianto scoffed. “Of course I have. If you can find any witch or wizard that hasn’t, I’ll be surprised. Did you really write those books?”

Jack nodded, before looking down at his hands for a moment. “You haven’t… You haven’t read them, have you?” he asked, screwing his eyes closed as he waited for Ianto’s response.

Ianto rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve read them. I’ve read every single, twisted adventure of Julius’. Wait…” he ordered, his eyes widening in horror. “Julius and Caledonious, they… they’re us, aren’t they?”

Jack remained silent and Ianto clenched his teeth in annoyance as he the similarities began to dawn on him. “Cal leaves Julius in the books, doesn’t he? Julius wanted to leave the Knights of the Vampire Court, but Cal wouldn’t… I swear to God, J, why didn’t you just call them ‘Jack’ and ‘Ianto’ and be done with it?”

Jack glared at him. “Come on, Ianto,” he retorted. “Give me a little bit of credit.”

Ianto took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “So, the similarities between their relationship and ours are purely coincidental?” 

“Maybe not completely coincidental,” Jack confessed. “But I couldn’t very well call them ‘Jack’ and ‘Ianto’, could I? That would have been too obvious.”

“How dare you air our dirty laundry in front of the entire Wizarding World?” Ianto hissed, his face reddening in anger. “What happened that night was between you and I; you had no right to share the details with anyone else.”

“Almost no one knows who Julius and Cal are really based on,” Jack dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Silence followed Jack’s words, before Ianto whispered, “Almost no one?” Jack blushed deeply. “Who else have you told, J?” he demanded, placing his hands on his hips.

Jack sighed heavily. “Remus and my agent,” he confessed. “I hired Remus as my proof reader before my first book was published. Neither of them would let me name the characters after us.”

“Oh, well I’m glad someone saw sense,” Ianto snapped, rolling his eyes.

“Wait a minute,” Jack growled, his eyes flashing in anger. “I was alone in a strange world with a daughter to raise and provide for. Writing things down was the only way I could get myself through the day sometimes.”

Silence followed Jack’s statement until Ianto sighed and slumped down into one of the chairs at the table, followed by Jack. “What does your agent know about you?” he whispered, reaching across the table and taking Jack’s hand in his.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked, frowning in confusion, running his thumb over the back of Ianto’s hand.

Ianto sighed and glared at Jack. “You know what I mean. Stop being obtuse,” he ordered. “Does she know about your…” he fell silent, trying to think of the right word.

Jack sighed. “You mean does she know what I really am?” he finished for Ianto. “Yes, she does.”

“Damn it, J!” Ianto growled, slamming his free hand down on the tabletop. “Did it ever occur to you that telling her about you was dangerous?”

Jack glared at him and dropped his hand. “She doesn’t know my real name. As far as she’s concerned Gabriel D’Abaddon really exists; he’s just a recluse that refuses to do interviews and book signings.”

“And what if she decides to do a little digging and finds out who you actually are?” Ianto demanded. “What then? This is one heck of an ego trip you’re taking.”

“I’m not on an ego trip!” Jack exclaimed. 

“Then you’re a danger addict,” Ianto retorted. “Being half-vampire is dangerous enough to begin with. Writing about vampires is just… it’s borderline suicidal. You left the Wizarding world because you didn’t like the way you were treated, if…”

“If my books make people think differently about vampires then I’ve done my job, haven’t I?” Jack snapped, his eyes flashing silver.

They fell silent for a moment, before Jack slumped back in the chair and ran his hand over his face. “I’m sorry for writing about us, Ianto,” he murmured, opening his eyes and looking up at his lover. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you and I needed to tell someone our story, otherwise I would have gone mad and what good would that have done Alice?”

Ianto sighed and reached out, cupping Jack’s cheek with his hand. “I’m not mad at you, J,” he whispered, running his thumb over Jack’s cheekbone.

“You’re not?” the other wizard asked in disbelief. 

“Well, no, I am,” Ianto corrected himself. “I’m mad that the entire Wizarding world knows what happened between us; whether they realise it or not. I’m just glad you stuck to the Wizarding World and not…”

He trailed off when Jack blushed and his jaw fell open in disbelief. “Your fan base isn’t just limited to our world, is it?” he demanded.

Jack glared at him. “My agent wanted to expand her business!” he defended himself. “Turns out she was right. Muggles love vampire stories almost as much as Wizards do.”

Ianto closed his eyes and counted to ten. “Oh, J,” he muttered darkly. “You are so lucky I love you; I don't think I could put up with you otherwise.”

“Thanks,” Jack scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “Wait,” he ordered, registering Ianto’s words, “you… love me?” he whispered, disbelief lacing his voice.

A blush stained Ianto’s cheeks and he averted his eyes, before looking back at Jack. “Can you pretend you didn’t hear that?” he begged. Jack shook his head and Ianto sighed. “Yes, I love you. I think I always loved you; isn’t that what you want to hear?”

Jack grinned widely and pushed himself into an upright position. “Of course it’s what I wanted to hear,” he chuckled. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that for over a decade.”

“Because you feel…?” Ianto began, uncertain as to whether he wanted to know the end of his sentence.

“I feel the same, obviously,” Jack stated. “I thought you said you’d read the Sanguine books.”

“I have,” Ianto snapped. “But… You mean… Julius’ feelings really are yours?”

Jack nodded his head. “They are,” he agreed. He leant forward, capturing Ianto’s lips in a soft kiss. “I really am sorry for writing about us,” he murmured, pulling back a little so he could look into the other man’s eyes.

Ianto shook his head. “Don’t be,” he instructed. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m happy about everyone knowing the truth; but I am glad that you found something you love doing. You should tell people. Your uncle would…”

Jack grimaced and rolled his eyes. “No, thank you,” he scoffed. “I’m more than happy with being a mysterious writer. Plus, the Doctor would think I’d blackmailed some poor Wizard to write the books for me. He always believed I’d never amount to much.”

Ianto sighed and pulled away from Jack; he knew there was no use in arguing with him about the Doctor; nothing would make the other man change his opinion of the headmaster and Ianto had long since discovered that it was useless trying.

He got to his feet and heading to the counter. He grimaced when he felt the temperature of their drinks, which had been forgotten about. “Do you want another drink making?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at Jack.

Jack nodded, getting to his feet and rinsing their cups out, before handing them back to Ianto. “Can I ask you a question?” he asked, his voice light and casual – a little too casual, Ianto noted as he poured them both drinks. 

Ianto snorted with laughter and shook his head. “When have you ever needed my permission?” he scoffed.

The other wizard glared at him. “When… When did you change your name?” he asked softly, running his fingers over the counter top as he tried to avoid eye contact.

“Ah,” Ianto murmured. “I wondered how long it would be before that came up,” he admitted. “I’ve been using ‘Jones’ for about nine years. After what happened with Johnny…”

Jack reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “I heard about that,” he whispered. “Remus keeps me informed on all things Wizard,” he added at Ianto’s raised eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m just biding time in the Muggle world until I’m ready to go back home.”

Ianto smiled and reached up, running his fingers through Jack’s hair. “He’s been your best friend since you were 11, and he still hasn’t figured out that you’re a stubborn bastard, yet?”

Jack glared at him. “Excuse me, I’m not a bastard. I’ll have you know that my parents were…” Ianto raised an eyebrow and Jack rolled his eyes. “What am I talking about? My mother wasn’t married.”

Ianto nodded his head. “See? I said that you were a bastard,” he stated, a smug smile spreading across his face.

The other man chuckled low in his throat and took a step closer, pressing Ianto back against the counter. “I’ll have you know that I can be a very, very good boy, Professor,” he whispered, pressing his lips against Ianto’s and running his fingers along the other wizard’s hip.

Ianto winced at the pain that shot through him when Jack’s fingers brushed against the healing bite mark.

Immediately Jack, sensing Ianto’s discomfort, pulled away and looked into his blue eyes. “Did I hurt you last night?” he asked, biting his lower lip in a way that made him look adorable in Ianto’s eyes. 

Ianto shook his head, pressing his lips against Jack’s lips. “I’m fine,” he assured him. “It’s just going to take a while to get used to that again.”

Jack smiled and tightened his grip on Ianto, pulling him closer. “We can ‘get used to it’ some more, if you want?” he suggested, leering at him.

Ianto gasped when Jack’s rolled his hips and ground their crotches together. “As much as I would love to take you up on that,” he whispered, reaching around and squeezing Jack’s arse. “I don’t think we have enough time.”

Jack groaned and fluttered his eyelashes. “Oh come on,” he murmured. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

Ianto turned his head to the left and glanced at the clock on the wall. “I’m not sure about that,” he stated. The other man’s eyes followed Ianto’s gaze and he swore, making Ianto smile. “I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind getting off on a good foot with Alice. You forgetting to pick her up because of me isn’t going to make her like me, is it?”

Jack sighed and rested his forehead against Ianto’s. “I suppose,” he whispered. “When… When am I going to see you again?” he asked softly, hating how much like a teenager he sounded.

Ianto smiled and kissed Jack’s pouting lips softly, before answering, “We get every other weekend off. I’ll need to check the rota when I get back to school, but I’m sure I’ll have the first weekend of term off; since I was on duty that weekend last year.”

Jack grinned and tightened his arms around Ianto, kissing him softly at first, then with increasing passion. “That’s good,” he whispered. “Because I don’t think I can let you go for too long now,” he confessed.

~

**Chapter 5: Return To Hogwarts**

Alice was just about to get on the Hogwarts Express on the 1st September when she asked the question that had been on her mind for two weeks.

“Dad?” she asked, turning back and looking at her father. Jack raised an eyebrow and she continued, “Are you and Professor Jones going out again?” She knew that Ianto had spent the evening when she’d stayed at Owen’s house, but she hadn’t heard Jack mention him since.

Jack smiled and Alice frowned when she saw that he was blushing lightly – Jack Harkness never got embarrassed. “Yes,” he whispered. “Is that okay?” he asked, his expression turning serious as he studied his daughter.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “If he makes you happy, I don’t care,” she muttered, sounding so much older than her twelve years.

Jack grinned and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss against her hair despite her protests. “Love you, kid,” he whispered.

“Dad!” she whined, trying to twist out of his grip and jump on to the train. “Stop embarrassing me,” she instructed.

The wizard laughed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you at Christmas, you big baby,” he said, closing the door behind her.

Quickly Alice rolled down the window and leant out, grabbing Jack and pulling him closer. “Love you too, Dad,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek before ducking back inside the carriage and closing the window again.

Owen and Draco found her not long after the train let Kings Cross, and the blond immediately stretched out across the length of three seats in the carriage. 

“Comfortable?” Alice asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched Draco.

Draco shook his head and arranged his bag under his head, before answering, “Now I am,” and closing his eyes.

Alice looked over at Owen, who had already fished out a beaten up book. “Is that the copy my dad signed?” she asked, wondering exactly how many times her friend had read the book.

Owen rolled his eyes. “Don’t be daft,” he instructed. “That copy’s at home. I bought it again.”

“Your dad should like that,” Draco commented. “Owen’s boosting his sales figures single-handedly.”

Owen glared at the blond – whose eyes were still closed. “Like you haven’t bought another copy.” 

Draco blushed bright red and Alice laughed, shaking her head in amusement at her friends. “Where’s Gwen? I thought you said she was going to school this year.”

Owen scowled. “She is,” he assured her. “Suzie wouldn’t let her come in here; something about making sure that at least two of us ended up in Gryffindor.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head, before turning to look at Alice and changing the subject. “So, what happened between your dad and Professor Jones?” he asked.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “No idea,” she retorted.

Draco finally cracked an eye open and studied her. “You haven’t asked him?” he asked, disbelief in his voice.

“I completely forgot all about it until just now,” she answered. “But I did remember in time to ask him if they’re going out with each other now.”

Owen and Draco stared at her, urging her to continue. When she didn’t say anything, Draco sighed heavily and snapped, “Oh, come on, Harkness! You have to give us something!”

Alice laughed and shook her head. “He said they are,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Draco finally pushed himself upright and studied his friend for so long she actually began to feel uncomfortable. “Are you okay with that?” he finally asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see why it should matter if I’m not,” she mumbled. “It’s weird knowing that they’re going on dates and stuff; but you should have seen the look on Dad’s face, guys. I can’t remember the last time I saw him smile like that.”

“You never know,” Owen said, flicking the book open and leaning back in his seat. “Having them going out might make your life easier.”

“How’d you figure that?” Alice questioned, glancing over at him.

“Think about it,” Owen instructed. “Professor Jones might make Charms easier for you because you’re his boyfriend’s daughter.”

Alice scowled and shook her head. “He was a Slytherin; I doubt he’d do something like that. Plus, I don’t want him to; it’d be like the Doctor giving me preferential treatment - weird.”

Draco and Owen exchanged glances, not bothering to remind her that the Doctor had let her off for being out of bed after lights out more times than they could count.

~

Hart handed out their timetables over breakfast on the 2nd September, with his usual threat that they wouldn’t get another if they lost it, before continuing down the table. Alice picked up her timetable and frowned when she realised that Draco wasn’t anywhere in sight. She sighed and slid his timetable into her bag; she’d give it to him in Herbology – their first lesson of the day.

Fifteen minutes later, the second year Slytherin’s gathered in one of the school’s greenhouses waiting for Professor Martha Jones - there was talk that she was related to Ianto, but Alice, Draco and Owen knew better since discovering the old Quidditch trophy, proving that his name was actually ‘Ianto Lumic’.

Alice glanced at her watch and sighed heavily, throwing a look over her shoulder; Draco still wasn’t anywhere in sight. “Where is he?” she whispered, glancing over at Owen.

Owen shrugged his shoulders and mimicked Alice’s actions, looking around for their friend. “I have no idea.”

The door on the other side of the greenhouse opened and they watched Martha enter the room. “Good morning,” she greeted, smiling around at them as she stood in front of them. “Welcome to Greenhouse Three.”

“About time,” Alice muttered under her breath as Draco slipped in through the door at the back of the room and moved to stand between her and Owen. “Where have you been?”

Draco shrugged his shoulders and pulled on the apron that Martha had laid out for them. “I slept in,” he whispered. “Why can’t the 2nd September fall on a Saturday? Classes wouldn’t start until Monday that way. Getting up early is going to take some getting used to,” he added with a yawn.

“Today we’re going to re-pot Mandrakes,” Martha was explaining to the class. She reached down and pulled a large plant pot from underneath the workbench. “Can anyone tell me the properties of a Mandrake?” Alice rolled her eyes when Tosh’s hand shot up in the air. “Ah, yes, Miss Sato?” Martha questioned, indicating to the young witch.

“Mandrake – or Mandagora – is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state,” Tosh answered as though she were reciting directly from a textbook. Martha grinned in encouragement and Tosh continued, “It’s also quite dangerous. The Mandrake’s cry is fatal to anyone who hears it.”

Martha beamed proudly and was more than happy to give Ravenclaw ten house points. “Now, as our Mandrakes as still only seedlings, their cries won’t kill you yet. But they will knock you out for a few hours.”

She indicated that they should all put on the earmuffs she had provided them with. When she was sure that their hearing was sufficiently impaired, she reached out and curled her fingers around the stems of the Mandrake.

Alice let out a cry of horror when Martha pulled the ugliest baby she had ever seen from the plant pot. It was shrivelled and covered in dirt; its tiny face curled in disgust and it opened his mouth and let out – what Alice imagined to be – a horrible cry. Even though she knew the earmuffs would protect her, she couldn’t help pressing them tighter against her ears.

The class watched as Martha transferred the Mandrake to another plant pot, before quickly covering the bawling baby with soil. When the Mandrake was out of sight, she removed her own earmuffs and the class took this as a sign that they could remove their own.

“There. It’s not too difficult,” Martha chuckled, looking around at them. “Now, you each have a Mandrake in front of you. Remember, grip the leaves tightly and re-pot them as quickly as possible.”

They replaced their earmuffs and moved to their plant pots. When Martha was sure that their ears were sufficiently protected, she indicated that they could continue. Alice gritted her teeth and tugged the leaves as hard as she could. Re-potting Mandrakes wasn’t as easy as it looked apparently; the seedlings didn’t seem to want to leave their warm homes.

After a few attempts, she managed to get the Mandrake loose and quickly placed it in the second pot, throwing as much soil on top of it as she could. As she patted the soil down, she glanced over at Draco, rolling her eyes when she saw what the blond was doing. 

Draco was tickling under his Mandrake’s chin; clearly he was showing off to the few people who were paying attention to him. Alice let out a loud laugh when the Mandrake – clearly fed up with Draco irritating it – bit down hard on his index finger.

Owen rolled his eyes and stuffed the Mandrake into a pot while Draco nursed his injured finger. 

“It serves you right,” Alice retorted, pulled the earmuffs off when Martha gave them the ‘all clear’. “I’d have bitten you if you’d been tormenting me like that, as well.”

Draco glared at her and clutched his hand to his chest as they left the greenhouse and began the walk back to the castle. “It could have taken my finger off!” he shrieked.

Alice laughed and shook her head, reaching out and grabbing hold of Draco’s hand. “The cut’s barely a millimetre deep,” she informed him, dropping his hand and stuffing her own into her pockets. 

“It could be infected!” Draco insisted.

“Oh, please,” Alice scoffed. “Mandrake’s don’t have poisonous saliva. You’re fine, just a big drama queen.”

“Ex-Excuse me?” a quiet voice asked from behind them and together they turned around to see a Gryffindor first year looking at them with an eager expression on his face.

“Can we help you?” Alice questioned, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms across her chest.

The Gryffindor held a camera up, grinning from ear to ear as he asked, “Please could I have my picture taken with you?” Draco burst out laughing and had to hold on to Owen to stop himself from falling over. “Maybe your friend could take it,” he added, nodding to Draco.

The laughter immediately stopped and Draco stood upright, straightening his robes as he glared down at the kid. “Who are you?” he snapped.

“E- Eugene Creevey,” the Gryffindor stammered, swallowing nervously as Draco towered over him.

Alice rolled her eyes. “Leave him alone, Draco,” she murmured, placing a hand on his arm and pulling him back a step. “Maybe later, okay?” she added, looking down at Creevey and trying to smile at him.

Eugene flushed hotly and nodded his head, stammering his thanks before sprinting away from them. 

“What?” Alice snapped when she realised that Draco and Owen were staring at her. 

Owen shook his head, mimicking zipping his mouth closed, while Draco reached into his bag and pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment.

“Please can I have your autograph, Miss Harkness?” he said, putting on a fake high-pitched voice. 

Alice rolled her eyes and punched him on the arm. “Shut up,” she muttered, trying to ignore how much she was blushing. 

Draco laughed and shook his head. “You’re my hero,” he continued. “When I grow up I want to be just like you and kick an evil wizard’s arse.”

Alice glared at him. “I said shut up,” she growled. She dove at him, glaring when he ducked out of her way. “I’m going to kill you,” she stated.

The blond shrugged his shoulders. “You have to catch me first,” he retorted, throwing his bag at Owen as Alice ran after him. 

~

Alice stopped in the centre of the corridor and shook her head. “I’m not going in there,” she stated. “I’d rather go to an extra potions class than spend an hour in a room where he’s the only adult; and I use that term loosely.”

Her friends rolled their eyes. “Now who’s being a drama queen?” Draco muttered, placing his hands in hers and pulling her down the corridor, while Owen pushed her from behind. “It won’t be that bad. We’ll sit at the back of the class; he won’t even notice that we’re there.”

When they arrived in the classroom, they discovered that their decision to sit at the back of the class was apparently a good one. Or rather, the choice was taken out of their hands when they saw that the female – and a few of the male – second years were practically fighting each other as they attempted to sit as close to Lake as possible.

“Do you think it’s going to be like this all year?” Owen asked, slouching down into a seat at the back of the room.

Alice grimaced and sat next to him. “God, I hope not,” she muttered. “I don’t think I could stomach it.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “How come you’re the only female in this entire school that seems immune to him?” he questioned, settling into his seat.

“He’s not a disease, Draco,” Alice retorted. “Well, maybe he is,” she corrected herself, looking over at the other’s in the class. “I just know how much of a fake he is,” she muttered, shrugging her shoulders. “Half of the stuff he’s said about creatures is wrong anyway.”

Owen nodded firmly. “She’s right,” he agreed. “There’s no way vampires can turn into bats.” Alice raised an eyebrow and Owen blushed. “Well, according to D’Ab - your dad,” he mumbled. “And I think he’s right.”

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re obsessed, you know that, right?”

Owen shrugged his shoulders unrepentantly, just as the door to Lake’s office opened and the writer came out, beaming down at the class as though they were his adoring subjects.

“Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher,” he began and Alice felt a little hope fill her; maybe she wasn’t really going to be subjected to him for the rest of the year. Her hope deflated at his next word, “Me.”

He chuckled lightly and smiled at the swooning girls as he headed down the stairs. “I am Professor Jackson Lake,” he introduced himself, writing his name on the board in handwriting that was so fancy there was no hope of any of them being able to read it. 

Alice tuned him out as he began reciting the awards he had ‘won’ and began flicking through the book in front of her. It was one of Lake’s – of course – and from the few passages she could force herself to read, she knew it wouldn’t contain anything that could be useful if they ever needed to defend themselves.

“Right,” Lake said, clapping his hands and making her jump. “I think we should start with a little test.” Many of the students looked at each other in alarm and Lake smiled sweetly at them. “Nothing to worry about. It won’t count against your final mark; it just helps me get an idea of how well you actually read the books.”

He began distributing the tests, taking the time to beam down at each student individually. Almost everyone in the class returned the smiles, except for Alice, Draco and Owen, who merely nodded in thanks and turned the tests over.

“What the-?” Alice heard Draco mutter. “This is the stupidest test I’ve ever seen.”

Alice glanced down at her own paper and found herself agreeing with the blond. All the questions were about Lake; ranging from ‘What is Jackson Lake’s favourite colour?’ to ‘When is Jackson Lake’s birthday and what would his ideal gift be?’.

“Well,” Alice murmured, reaching out and picking up her quill. “If this is what the exams are going to be like for the rest of the year, I think Defence may have just become my favourite class.”

Owen stared at her, his mouth open in surprise. “Do you know the answers?” he hissed, watching as she began filling in the test.

Alice rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Of course not,” she retorted. “But they’re all about him; just think of the most pretentious person you’ve ever met and pretend you’re writing about them.”

Draco nodded. “I can do that,” he decided, picking up his own quill and looking down at the test. “‘What is Alice Harkness’ greatest achievement to date?’ That’s easy; getting herself dressed on a morning.”

Alice glared at him. “Oh, that’s really funny,” she muttered.

“We’re not cheating back there, are we?” Lake’s voice cut through their bickering and they both immediately looked down at their papers, blushes staining their cheeks. “I would hate to have to deduct house points for something as trivial as a little quiz.”

~

**Chapter 6: Weekend Break**

Ianto glanced at his pocket watch and winced as he saw the time. It was nearly nine o’clock in the evening and he was already half an hour late leaving the school.

“Hey,” Hart greeted, exiting the dungeons and grinning when he saw his colleague coming down the stairs.

It took all of Ianto’s self control to not roll his eyes in annoyance as he reached the bottom of the staircase. “Hi,” he replied. “I’m sorry, but I’m already running late as it is.”

Hart looked down and, for the first time, noticed the bag in Ianto’s hand. “Oh,” he murmured. “Are you going away for the weekend?” he asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

Ianto nodded, moving to step past Hart. “Just meeting up with a few… friends,” he answered, not sure how Hart would react to finding out the truth. “I’ll see you on Sunday evening,” he added, not waiting for Hart to respond, before he pushed the heavy door open and let himself out of the castle.

He didn’t look back as he made his way down the school’s drive and slipped through the large gates; he waited until he was far enough away from the school, before he apparated to Jack’s house.

Quickly, Ianto made his way down the path and reached up to press the doorbell. He hadn’t even placed his finger on the buzzer, when the door was opened and he saw Jack standing on the other side. The other wizard was looking at him with a look of pure relief.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Ianto immediately apologised.

Jack smiled and stepped to the side, letting Ianto into the house and closing the door behind him. “I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind,” he confessed.

Ianto shook his head and followed Jack into the living room, dumping his bag at the bottom of the stairs as he passed. “The homework I needed to mark took longer than I expected it to,” he said, unfastening his jacket and placing it on the back of one of the armchairs.

Jack winced and sat down on the couch, Ianto following suit and sitting beside him. “Three days into the year and they already have homework?”

Ianto chuckled. “It was the seventh year’s homework from the summer,” he stated. “You’ve been keeping yourself busy waiting,” he added, nodding to the laptop that was open on the coffee table.

Jack rolled his eyes and saved the word document he had open, before turning the computer off. “I was trying to write the next book.”

“Trying?” Ianto repeated with a raised eyebrow. “Has the great Gabriel D’Abaddon got writer’s block?”

The other man glared at him – although there was no malice in his eyes – and leant back on the couch. “You’d be surprised how many times that’s happened over the years.”

Ianto smiled and mimicked Jack’s actions, leaning against the back of the couch. 

After a few moments of silence, Jack turned and regarded Ianto with a concerned expression on his face. “How’s the bite mark healing?” he asked. 

Ianto chuckled and brought his hand up, cupping Jack’s face with his palm. “That was almost three weeks ago,” he reminded him. “It healed two days after you bit me; the same as always.” Jack blushed lightly and lowered his head. 

Ianto placed his hand under Jack’s chin and tilting his head back so he could look the other wizard in the eye. “Have you fed since?” he asked, knowing how often Jack needed to drink human blood; and the subsequent consequences if he didn’t. Jack nodded and Ianto frowned, “How?”

Jack grinned. “The same way I’ve always fed,” he stated. “The local blood banks haven’t even noticed that they’re always missing a few bags. It might not taste the same, but it’s better than nothing.”

Ianto chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Well, as long as we make sure we see each other every other weekend, I don’t see why you can’t have the real thing,” he said softly, leaning forward and pressing his lips against Jack’s.

Jack’s eyes widened and he pulled back, looking up at Ianto in surprise. “You’d really let me do that?” he whispered.

“After all this time, you still haven’t realised how much you biting me turns me on?” Ianto retorted, raising an eyebrow and running his hand down his lover’s chest to his crotch.

Jack gasped when he felt Ianto’s fingers brush against his cock. “You are such a tease,” he scolded, although there was no malice in his eyes.

Ianto smirked and placed his hand in Jack’s, pulling him to his feet and out of the room. “Oh, you have no idea,” he murmured, dragging the other wizard up the stairs.

Before Jack could even register what was happening, Ianto pushed him on the bed where he landed and let out a startled noise. He raised an eyebrow and looked up Ianto with a questioning expression on his face. 

Ianto grinned down at him and reached up, unfastening his shirt and dropping it to the floor at his feet. He didn’t speak as he knelt on the bed and crawled up Jack’s body, capturing the other man’s lips.

As they kissed, Ianto pulled Jack’s T-shirt out from where it was tucked into his jeans and ran his fingers over the other man’s stomach muscles. Finally, the need to breathe became too strong and Ianto had to pull back or risk suffocating. 

He leant up and pulled the T-shirt over Jack’s head, throwing it over his shoulder and resuming the kiss. Jack groaned when he felt Ianto’s hands take hold of his wrists and pull his arms above his head.

“Don’t move,” Ianto whispered low in his throat, pressing Jack’s wrists to the mattress to ensure that his meaning wasn’t misunderstood in anyway.

Jack moaned at the domineering tone in Ianto’s voice and nodded his head, curling his fingers around one of the slats in the headboard to make sure he wasn’t tempted to move his hands.

Ianto knelt up and began feathering kisses down Jack’s chest, before pausing at his belt. Instead of unfastening the leather, Ianto bit down gently on the skin just above Jack’s waistline, before nuzzling the other man’s cock through the denim.

Jack gasped and was about to reach down to run his fingers though Ianto’s hair. Before he had even moved, Ianto shook his head and sat up. “Unless you want me to stop, I suggest you stay still,” he cautioned.

He waited for Jack’s nod of agreement, before unfastening the other wizard’s belt and slowly peeling the denim down Jack’s legs along with his underwear, throwing them on the floor beside the bed.

Ianto grinned and leant down, running his tongue along the underside of Jack’s cock, making the other man moan low in his throat.

“Come on, Ianto,” he begged, tightening his grip on the headboard and looking down at Ianto with silver eyes. “Don’t be such a bastard; just suck me, already!”

Ianto raised an eyebrow and Jack could tell that he was seriously considering stopping his ministrations, before he decided against it and pressed a kiss to the head of Jack’s cock. 

“That’s more like it,” Jack whispered, his legs falling open as Ianto took him in his mouth. 

Ianto grinned around Jack’s cock and focused on relaxing his throat, so he could take more of the other man in his mouth; he was so much bigger than the rest of Ianto’s lovers had ever been.

Jack gasped and arched his back when he felt Ianto’s index finger brush against his entrance. “Fuck, Ianto,” he breathed, his chest heaving as he tried to remember how to breathe.

Pulling away despite Jack’s protests, Ianto grinned widely when he saw that Jack holding tightly onto the headboard. He crawled up Jack’s body and kissed him deeply, roughly plunging his tongue into the other wizard’s mouth to let him taste himself.

Jack moaned and wrapped his arms around Ianto, pulling him closer as they kissed. 

The instant Ianto felt Jack’s arms around him, he stopped and pulled away, glaring down at Jack. “What did I tell you?” he asked, kneeling back and looking down at his lover.

Jack’s mouth fell open in surprise. “I thought you meant just then,” he stated. “I didn’t think you meant…” He trailed off as Ianto began unfastening his felt. “What are you doing?” he half-moaned as he licked his lips.

“You know what I’m doing,” Ianto stated, pulling his belt free from the loops on his trousers and taking one of Jack’s hands in his. 

Slowly he wrapped the belt around the vampire’s wrist, before lifting it and sliding the leather between the slats in the headboard. “Give me your other hand,” he instructed.

Jack rushed to comply and Ianto fastened the belt around his wrist, before sitting back and admiring his handy work. “Perfect,” he murmured, ducking his head and running his tongue across the other man’s collarbone.

Ianto smiled and bit down on Jack’s shoulder, smirking when he gasped and arched up into his lover’s touch. “Looks like I’m not the only one with a kink about being bitten,” he murmured, pushing himself up off the bed and unfastening his trousers.

He grinned when he noticed Jack watching every move he made. “What do you want?” he asked, moving to the foot of the bed and stroking himself slowly as he waited for Jack’s answer.

Jack moaned and quietly answered, “Fuck me.”

Ianto smirked and knelt on the bed. “Oh, trust me, that is definitely going to happen,” he assured the other man. He crawled back up the bed, not stopping until he was straddling Jack’s chest. “Lift your head,” he instructed softly, moving one of the pillows so that it was beneath Jack’s head. “Is that okay?” he asked. Jack nodded his head and Ianto grinned. “Good, because I want you to suck me,” he added.

Jack’s eyes flickered closed momentarily and when they opened, Ianto felt a surge of arousal rush through him when he saw that his lover’s eyes were completely silver and his fangs were extended. “Why don’t you just let me go and I’ll fuck you as I drain you?” Jack requested, licking his lips as he looked at Ianto’s cock. “That way we both get off and I can feed as well.”

Ianto rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through Jack’s hair, forcing his head back so he could into the vampire’s eyes. “I’m not going to let you kill me, J,” he informed him. “But you are going to suck me. Open up.”

Obligingly, Jack opened his mouth and allowed Ianto to slide his cock inside. Ianto moaned at the wet heat that surrounded him. “Fuck, J,” he whispered, grabbing hold of the headboard to steady himself.

Jack grinned and carefully grazed his fangs across the sensitive skin of Ianto’s cock, making it quiver on his tongue. Above him, Ianto gasped and thrust into Jack’s mouth as the other man began sucking him harder.

“That’s it,” Ianto murmured, releasing the headboard with one hand and reaching down, sliding his fingers through Jack’s brown hair. “Suck me harder. Make me come,” he whispered, closing his eyes when he felt Jack hollow out his cheeks.

It wasn’t much longer before he threw back his head and let out a loud cry of Jack’s name as he emptied himself into the other man’s mouth.

Jack closed his eyes as he swallowed Ianto’s come, savouring his taste as he licked him clean. When he was sure that there wasn’t a drop he had missed, he pulled back and let Ianto’s cock slip from his mouth.

“I thought you were going to fuck me,” he whispered, opening his eyes and licking his lips as he looked up at Ianto.

The Welshman grinned and slid down Jack’s body, kissing the other man passionately. “I am,” he assured him. “But first, you’re going to fuck me.”

Jack groaned and felt his neglected cock stir. “You might want to untie me,” he reminded him.

Ianto chuckled and shook his head. “You’re staying like you are,” he stated, getting off the bed and moving in to the en suite bathroom. It took a few moments to find, but when he returned he was holding a brand new tube of lube. “Have you stocked up?” he asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders as best as he could, given his current position.

He shook his head and returned to the bed, straddling Jack’s leg and opening the lube. Jack gasped at the temperature of the lube as Ianto began coating him from root to tip. 

“Wait, what about a con-?” he began to ask, but Ianto held a hand up, effectively silencing the other man.

“I love being able to do spells silently and without a wand,” Ianto stated, smirking and bending down and capturing Jack’s lips in a passionate kiss as he discarded the lube. “And I also prepared myself while I was in the bathroom,” he added, shifting so that he was poised over Jack.

Both of them gasped as Ianto slowly impaled himself on Jack’s cock. “Fuck, that’s good,” Ianto whispered when he was fully seated. He forced his eyes open and grinned down at Jack who was watching him with lust filled, silver eyes.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed, moaning as Ianto began to move, lifting himself up, before sliding back down again. “God, Ianto, you can’t keep going that slowly,” he gasped, arching up when Ianto pinched his nipples.

Ianto grinned down at him. “You’re the one tied to the bed,” he reminded Jack. “I can go as slow as I want,” he added, stopping all movement completely.

Jack groaned and squeezed his eyes closed. When Ianto didn’t move, he forced his eyes open and glared at him. “Are you seriously not planning on moving anytime soon?” he demanded.

Ianto laughed and leant down capturing Jack’s lips in a passionate kiss. “Of course I’m not,” he retorted, moaning softly when the change in angle meant that Jack’s cock brushed against his prostate.

He pushed himself upright once more, bracing his hands on Jack’s chest as he began moving up and down, slowly increasing the pace until he was panting heavily.

“Fuck, J,” he moaned, sliding his hands up Jack’s sweaty chest and cupping his face, before leaning down to kiss him again.

Ianto gasped in surprise when Jack pulled his hands away from the belt and wrapped them around Ianto. How the bed survived, Ianto had no idea; the belt was not as lucky.

With a growl, Jack flipped them over and pinned Ianto to the mattress. “That’s more like it,” he murmured, running his tongue along Ianto’s jaw. He grabbed Ianto’s hands and pinned them to the mattress above his head. “Let’s see how long you can not move your hands for.”

He flashed Ianto a grin – the fangs making him look positively evil – before he pressed their lips together and roughly thrust his tongue inside Ianto’s mouth.

The Welshman groaned and mimicked Jack’s earlier actions, curling his fingers around the headboard as he wrapped his legs around his lover’s waist, urging him to thrust deeper. He gasped and arched his back when Jack bit down hard on his shoulder.

“J,” he whispered, giving up trying to stay still and running his fingers through Jack’s hair. “Fuck,” he added when the vampire reached between their bodies and began pumping Ianto’s cock roughly.

The combination of being fucked, Jack’s hand on him, and the vampire feeding from him was enough to make Ianto’s head spin and it wasn’t long before he let out a cry of Jack’s name and came hard enough that he was certain he almost blacked out.

Jack pulled away and Ianto was vaguely aware of the other man coming, before he collapsed on top of him.

Neither of them spoke for a long moment, until Jack lifted his head and looked at the headboard. “Oh, I broke your belt,” he murmured.

Ianto chuckled sleepily and rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about it,” he muttered. “I’m surprised you didn’t break the bed.”

Jack laughed and licked the wound on Ianto’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to bite you there,” he whispered. 

“I don’t care where you bite me,” Ianto assured him. “At least you weren’t cliché enough to bite me on the neck.”

Jack rolled his eyes and kissed Ianto softly. “You know I prefer the artery in your groin,” he stated. 

Ianto grinned and wrapped his arms around Jack, pulling him closer and rolling onto his side. “Which you might get to taste in a little bit, if you get some sleep now,” he stated.

Jack’s eyes lit up in excitement and he looked at Ianto, smiling when he’d closed his eyes. “We should shower before we sleep,” he stated.

Ianto shook his head, his eyes stilled closed, and answered, “I’m not 20 anymore, J. I’ve just come twice; you’re going to have to give me at least half an hour before I can even think about moving.”

Jack was about to pout, before he realised that Ianto had his eyes closed and that the effect would be lost. “I suppose,” he muttered, resting his head on Ianto’s chest and let the other man’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.

~

**Chapter 7: Quidditch Tryouts**

Alice shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her. “Why do Quidditch tryouts have to be in the middle of winter?” she muttered, trying to stop her teeth from chattering.

Owen rolled his eyes and handed her one of the cups he was holding in his hands. “It’s October; hardly the middle of winter,” he reminded her.

Alice looked down at the cup she was holding, surprised to see that it was filled with hot chocolate. “Where did you get this from?” she asked suspiciously.

“You’ll be surprised what the house-elves in the kitchen will do for Miss Alice Harkness and her friends,” Owen chuckled, taking a drink. 

Alice raised an eyebrow. “What are house-elves?”

Owen laughed and shook his head. “They work in the kitchen,” he informed her. “How did you think the food got to the Great Hall?”

“Magic,” Alice replied simply with a shrug of her shoulders, making Owen laugh. “What?” she asked defensively. “I grew up in the Muggle World; give me a break.”

Owen was still chuckling to himself as he sat down on the seat and looked down at the Quidditch pitch. “Why do you even have to be here?” he asked. “You’re already on the team.”

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “I have no idea. You didn’t have to come with me, you know?” she added.

“Yeah, right,” Owen scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Was that what the bucket of water over my head this morning meant? Oh, silly me; I thought it meant I was coming with you, whether I liked it or not.”

“Well, that too,” Alice agreed. “Wonder where Draco is; he’s even lazier than you are, there’s no way he was up earlier than-,” She trailed off as the potentials for their new beater filed out on to the Quidditch pitch. “Oh my,” she murmured, covering her mouth with her hand.

Owen frowned and followed her gaze, his jaw falling open in surprise when he saw Draco standing in the centre of the pitch, listening to what Flint was saying. “He wants to be on the Quidditch team?” he questioned, looking over at Alice.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “It looks like it. He’s never said anything to me about it, though.” She shuddered and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her cloak around all of her. “I hope this doesn’t get as messy as I think it’s going to,” she whispered, resting her chin on her knees as she watched the tryouts.

For the next thirty minutes, the only sounds that could be heard from either of them were gasps of horror when Draco got too close to a Bludger for their liking.

Finally the tryouts were over and Alice let out the breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding and got to her feet, not liking how shady her legs were. “He did pretty well,” she murmured, smoothing her robe down as her and Owen headed down to the Quidditch pitch.

“I did it!” Draco exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear when he saw them coming down from the stands. “Flint made me part of the team.”

Alice found herself with an armful of Draco before she could react. “You actually made the team?” she asked when she had been released.

Draco nodded and clapped Owen on the back. “I thought you were watching?” he retorted, his face falling a little.

“We were,” Owen assured him quickly. “But, I didn’t think Flint would tell you straight away.”

“Oh,” Draco murmured. “Well, he said that the others were rubbish and I was the only one who wouldn’t make the team look bad.”

Alice grinned and linked one arm through Draco’s and the other through Owen’s. “Now, we just need to get you on the team and we’ll be set,” she said, her eyes flickering over to Owen.

Owen shook his head. “No, thank you,” he muttered. “I think I prefer being on the sidelines rather than risking my neck like you two idiots.”

~

Owen looked up when he heard a knock on the door. Alice stuck her head around the door and looking around the room. “Are you lost?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow when she stepped fully into the room.

Alice shook her head. “I’m not lost, but Draco is,” she replied. “Have you seen him?”

“He said he was going to meet you for Quidditch practise,” Owen answered. “I take it he never showed up.”

“We were supposed to meet in the common room,” she glanced at her watch, “an hour ago.”

Owen frowned deeply and set Jack’s book to the side, pushing himself off the bed. “He said you were meeting him on the pitch.”

“What is with him?” Alice sighed.

“He has been pretty secretive these past few days,” Owen agreed with a nod of his head, grabbing his cloak. “It’s doing my head in.”

Alice raised an eyebrow as Owen pulled on his trainers. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Helping you find him,” Owen retorted as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And, I’m going to hit him for lying to me.”

The female Slytherin shook her head, before heading out of the room and stalking across the common room. 

“I swear there are more stairs here every day,” Owen muttered, glaring darkly at the aforementioned staircase as he and Alice headed up to the entrance hall.

Alice rolled her eyes. “And the fact that you eat more crap than anyone I know hasn’t got anything to do with that, right?”

Owen glared and was about to say something, when she stopped in her tracks and frowned deeply. “What’s wrong with you?” he demanded.

Alice shushed him and he raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you hear that?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

“Hear what?”

Alice frowned deeply. “Something about blood,” she murmured, dread filling her stomach. “Come on,” she instructed, taking off in a sprint in the opposite direction to the Quidditch Pitch.

Owen scowled and followed; trying to keep up with her, but the other Slytherin could move really fast when she wanted to. “Have you lost your mind?” he snapped, running into her when she stopped moving as suddenly as she’d started.

Alice shook her head and raised a shaky hand, pointing at the wall in front of them. Owen followed her gaze and let out a cry of horror when he saw what she was indicating to. “Is that…?” She swallowed and took a nervous step forward. “Is that Filch’s cat?”

“It looks like it,” Owen whispered. “I hope that’s red paint,” he added, nodding to the wall.

“‘The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware’,” Alice read aloud, never taking her eyes off the red writing on the wall. “That’s not paint,” she informed Owen. “It’s blood.”

She swallowed again, trying to fight her natural urges and focus on getting away from the scene before they got caught and accused. “We have to get out of here,” she whispered, placing her hand in Owen’s and turning around, intending to drag him back to the common room.

Before they managed to move more than five steps away from the wall, Filch came around the corner, followed by almost all the students in the school it seemed. “We missed breakfast?” Owen whispered, horror lacing his voice.

Alice rolled her eyes and was about to remind him that it probably wasn’t the best time to be focusing on his appetite. She didn’t manage to get the words out before Filch let out a pained cry.

“Mrs Norris,” he whispered, staggering towards the wall. “You!” he spat, abruptly spinning around to face Alice. “You killed my cat!” he accused, pointing a shaking finger at the Slytherin.

“What?” Alice exclaimed. “Why would I want to kill your cat?” she demanded, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at the caretaker.

“I’ll kill you too,” Filch muttered darkly, ringing his hands in front of him. “I’ll kill you!”

“Angus!” the Doctor’s voice shouted and every one turned to face the headmaster; the mass of students before him parting like the red sea as he made his way towards Alice. “That’s enough.” He looked around at the students before adding, “Everyone will return to their dormitories.”

Alice sighed with relief and turned on her heel, intending to follow the others. “Except you and Owen, Miss Harkness,” the Doctor added. She sighed and her shoulders slumped as she turned around to face him once more.

She groaned when saw Lake standing near the wall, inspecting the unmoving cat. “It was definitely a curse that killed her,” he was saying. “I saw the same thing in Ougadougou; it’s the Transmogrification Torture curse.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “She’s not dead, you idiot,” she snapped without realising.

The Doctor glared down at her and she blushed, mouthing her apologies to the headmaster as she took a step back. “Miss Harkness is right,” he agreed. “Albeit, a little rude; but right nevertheless. Mrs Norris has simply been petrified.”

This time it was Lake’s turn to blush and Alice smirked to herself, throwing Owen an ‘I told you so’ look. 

“But,” the Doctor continued, “I have to admit that I’m as much in the dark as you are about how she got this way.”

“Ask her!” Filch spat, jabbing a finger in Alice’s direction. “She’s the one that’s done it. You saw what she wrote on the wall.”

Alice’s jaw fell open and was about to snap at Filch, when Owen beat her to it. “That’s not true. I swear, Doctor,” he said, looking up at the head teacher. “Me and Alice have been together all morning.”

The Doctor smiled and patted Owen on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I know she isn’t responsible for this.” He glared at Filch, daring him to try and argue. 

“If I might, Headmaster,” Hart’s voice said from behind the Doctor; Alice hadn’t even realised that the potions professor was still there. If she looked around her great-uncle, she could see Professor Jones standing next to Hart. “Maybe Miss Harkness and Mr Harper were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Both Owen and Alice could feel their jaws dropping open in surprise as they stared at Hart; even Ianto looked surprised at his colleague’s words. It was no secret that Alice wasn’t Hart’s favourite student.

“However,” Hart continued. “I don’t remember seeing either of them at breakfast,” he added with a smirk.

Alice glared darkly at him. “We were going to help Draco practise for his first Quidditch game,” she half-lied.

Hart raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And where is Mr Malfoy?” he questioned.

“Right here,” Draco’s voice answered. They all turned to see Draco standing at the bottom of a staircase with a broomstick in his hand. “So this is why you didn’t show up,” he murmured, heading towards them and looking up at the wall with a scowl. “That’s disgusting.”

“Innocent until proven guilty, Professor,” the Doctor reminded gently him, before turning back to Filch. “Don’t worry about Mrs Norris, Angus. We’ll be able to cure her. If I’m correct, Professor Jones – Martha, that is – has some Mandrakes growing as we speak. When they are cured, a potion will be made and Mrs Norris will be as right as rain.”

~

“You’ve got good timing,” Alice said to Draco when they arrived back at the common room. She scowled when the few students who were there, quickly gathered up their things and headed to their dormitories. “Great,” she muttered, throwing herself down on one of the leather couches. “Now everyone thinks I’m going to attack them.”

Draco pushed her legs to the side and sat down on the couch, while Owen sat opposite. “What do you think that message meant?” he asked, looking down at his hands.

Owen shrugged his shoulders. “No idea,” he answered. “And I don’t really care; if Mrs Norris isn’t around for a while, it’ll make life a lot nicer.” 

Alice nodded in agreement and arranged herself so she was leaning back on the large cushions. “What I do want to know is where the hell you were this morning,” she said. “You were supposed to meet me in here.”

“Oh,” Draco murmured, blushing red and looking away from them. “I wanted to get in a bit of extra practise, so I got up earlier. I guess I lost track of time,” he whispered.

Alice narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a long moment, before shrugging her shoulders. “I suppose I’ll let you off,” she muttered. “Just tell me next time. We wouldn’t have been in that damn corridor if we hadn’t been looking for you.”

~

**Chapter 8: The Chamber of Secrets**

Alice yawned widely and quickly covered her mouth with her hand before Professor Tyler could see it. She was exhausted; Flint was making them practise every moment of daylight they could – as well as some hours of darkness – and it was beginning to take its toll on the team. A quick glance to her left told her that Draco looked just as tired as she felt.

Her eyes were falling closed when she heard Tosh ask, “Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?”

She forced her eyes open and focused on Rose, who looked sufficiently flustered at Tosh’s question. “I think that’s a question for Professor Binns, don’t you?” she murmured, turning her back on the class and heading up to her desk. 

“I tried asking him,” Tosh said with a shake of her head. “But he said it didn’t exist.”

Rose finally turned around to face them. “How do you know I’m not going to say the same thing?” She looked around the classroom and, seeing all the eager faces staring back at her, sighed. “Very well,” she relented. “Well, you all know – of course – that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age.”

“Godric Gryffindor; Helga Hufflepuff; Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of the founders co-existed without a problem. One did not.”

“Gee, I wonder who that was,” a Gryffindor – Seamus Finnigan – muttered, throwing a scornful look over his shoulder at Alice; earning him a fierce glare in return.

Rose continued oblivious to Seamus’ interruption. “Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed magical learning should be kept within all magic families.”

“Purebloods,” Alice murmured and Rose nodded her head. 

“Exactly,” she agreed. “Unable to sway the others – even Godric, who had been his best friend up to that point – he decided to leave the school. Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the ‘Chamber of Secrets’. Shortly before departing, he sealed it, until the time when his own true heir returned to the school.”

Rose sighed and sat on the edge of her desk. “The heir alone would be able to open the chamber and unleash the horror within. And, by doing so, purge the school of all those, who – in Slytherin’s view – were unworthy to study magic.”

Tosh looked down at her hands. “Muggle-borns,” she whispered.

“Well,” Rose said, placing her wand down on the desk and looking at her class. “Naturally, the school has been searched many times by the most powerful wizards in the world – the Doctor included. No such chamber has been found.”

“Professor?” Tosh asked, her hand shooting into the air once more. “What exactly does legend tell us lies within the chamber?” she questioned, worrying her bottom lip nervously.

Rose didn’t answer for a moment, seemingly needing a moment to collect her thoughts, before she finally replied, “The chamber is said to be home to something that only the heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster.”

~

Draco winced and tried to pull his arm free from Alice’s grasp. “When the hell did you get so strong?” he demanded when he didn’t manage to even loosen her hold a little. 

“I’ve always been deceptively strong,” Alice answered dismissively, not stopping as she dragged the blond to her dormitory. 

“Harkness!” Pansy Parkinson cried when the door burst open and Alice entered with two boys. “This is a girl’s bedroom,” she reminded her.

“Then what are you doing here?” Alice retorted without missing a beat.

Pansy glared at her before she snatched her bag from the bed and stormed out, allowing the door to slam closed behind her. 

“Lock that,” Alice instructed Owen, pointing to the door and finally releasing Draco’s arm.

Draco glared at them and rubbed his sore arm. “Have you two finally lost your minds?” he snapped.

Alice folded her arms across her chest and sat down on her bed, Owen beside her, and looked up at the blond. “If I ask you something, I want an honest answer,” she stated.

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, silently instructing her to continue. “Have you opened the Chamber of Secrets?” Alice asked simply, making a point to keep eye contact with the blond.

“What?” Draco shrieked. “I was right; you really have gone mad.”

Alice sighed. “Just answer my question, Draco,” she requested.

“No,” Draco stated. “I did not open the Chamber of Secrets,” he said slowly through gritted teeth. “Were you not listening to Professor Tyler? I’d have to be the heir of Slytherin to do that.”

Alice and Owen exchanged a look, and Draco took a step back. “I don’t believe this,” he whispered, shaking his head. “You think I’m the heir of Slytherin? I don’t believe it,” he repeated.

“Come on, Draco,” Alice reasoned, getting to her feet and taking step closer to the blond, sighing when he took a step back. “Half the school thinks you are.”

“And the other half thinks it’s you!” Draco snapped, glaring at her. “But you don’t see me interrogating you.”

He spun on his heel and stalked back to the door. He was so angry that he didn’t even need to have his wand for the door to unlock and spring open. Draco didn’t look back as he fled up the stairs.

“Well, that went well,” Alice muttered, running her hand over her face and looking over at Owen with a helpless look on her face.

Owen nodded. “We should have known the direct approach wouldn’t work,” he whispered. “Should I go to the kitchen and get some more hot chocolate?” 

~

The sun was setting when Alice decided that she was brave enough to hunt her friend down. Not that it took much hunting; Draco was sitting at the very top of the Slytherin Quidditch stand, staring out at the pitch with a blank expression on his face.

“If you’ve come to throw me off, don’t bother; I was planning on jumping anyway,” Draco muttered, not looking away from the pitch as Alice approached.

“Don’t even joke about things like that, Draco,” Alice snapped, slowly moving closer to him and sitting on the bench. “That’s not funny.”

She was silent for a moment before she handed him a cup filled with hot chocolate. “Owen worked his magic with the house-elves,” Alice informed him. “They’re the ones that make our-,”

“I know what house-elves are, Alice,” Draco whispered, taking a drink of the chocolate. “We have one at home. Dobby; possibly the most irritating creature you could ever meet.”

“Oh,” Alice murmured, flushing with embarrassment. “I keep forgetting that it’s only me who doesn’t know stuff like that,” she confessed, her gloved fingers toying with the buttons on her cloak.

Draco chuckled and shook his head. “I’m sure you’re not the only one in the school. There must be a few first years who don’t know.”

Alice laughed and shook her head, too glad that Draco was talking to her to bicker with him. “I’m sorry about earlier,” she apologised, her voice barely louder than the wind that was building up around them. “I don’t really think you’re the heir of Slytherin.”

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to be mad at you anymore,” he muttered, averting his eyes.

Alice clenched her teeth and growled. “Damn it, Draco,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m trying to apologise to you here.”

Finally the blond turned around on the seat to face her. “Go on then,” he instructed. “If you didn’t think I was really the heir, why did you and Owen drag me into your room and interrogate me?”

Alice winced and didn’t answer for a long moment, before she finally whispered, “I wasn’t certain it wasn’t you. I thought you might have set the monster loose by accident, or something.”

Draco stared at her, before laughing loud and making her jump. “That’s not the reaction I expected,” she confessed.

“How could I let a monster out ‘by accident’?” he questioned, still chuckling to himself as he shook his head. “I think I’d notice if I did something like that.”

Alice shrugged. “I don’t know,” she snapped. “I just wanted you to know that even if you were the heir of Slytherin, it wouldn’t matter. You’d still be my friend and we’d find a way to figure out who really did do this.”

Draco grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, making her grimace. “How long have you been out here? You’re freezing!” she stated, getting to her feet and pulling him down from the stand. 

“Wait,” Draco instructed, pausing when they reached the bottom and her words finally sunk in. “We’re going to find out who really opened the chamber?” Alice nodded and Draco sighed. “There’s no use me arguing with you, is there?” She shook her head and Draco groaned. “You’re going to get us expelled one of these days, you know?”

Alice laughed and took Draco’s hand, pulling him towards the castle. “Admit it, I make life more interesting.”

~

**Chapter 9: The Rogue Bludger**

The day of Draco’s first Quidditch game was bright and clear: although it was still freezing cold.

“I don’t know what made me think I could do this,” Draco muttered from where he was standing next to Alice, clutching his new Nimbus 2001 - a congratulatory present from his mother and father for getting on the team. “I’m just going to make a fool of myself.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Why are you so nervous? You’re normally so confident you’re practically cocky.”

Draco glared at her. “I’ve never played in front of the entire school,” he reminded her through gritted teeth.

Alice chuckled and placed a hand on Draco’s arm, squeezing gently. “You’ll be fine,” she assured him, just as the gates opened and they flew out onto the Quidditch pitch. 

Not even five minutes into the game, Alice began to think there was something seriously wrong. One of the Bludgers would not leave her alone. She knew it was their job to try and knock players off their broom, but one in particular kept trying to go for her.

“Is it my imagination, or is that Bludger trying to kill me?” she asked Draco after he had knocked the offending ball in the opposite direction.

Draco rolled his eyes. “It’s your imagination,” he replied, flying off and stopping Flint from being knocked off his broom; sending the Bludger sailing towards one of the Gryffindors.

Alice would have possibly believed him if she hadn’t been attacked ten more times in the next twenty minutes by the same Bludger. “Okay,” Draco admitted, knocking the ball away for the eleventh time. “Maybe it’s not entirely your imagination. Where’s that damn Snitch? This game is getting old.”

“I don’t know,” Alice admitted, her gaze travelling across the pitch. “I’ve been so focused on trying to stay away from that, that I haven’t-,”

She trailed off and Draco looked over at her in horror, afraid the Bludger had gotten her without him realising it. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she had taken off in hot pursuit of what Draco could only assume was the Snitch. Her eyesight really was so much better than his; he couldn’t even see the tiny golden ball that she was supposed to be chasing.

He could, however, see the large – and heavy – Bludger that was heading for Alice. “No,” Draco whispered, tightening his grip on the bat in his hand and following Alice. “Come on,” he urged the broomstick, pleading with it to go faster. He couldn’t let Alice get hit by that Bludger: not when they were so close to winning and the game being over.

To his relief, Alice dropped down and the Bludger sailed over her head as she turned a corner, still in hot pursuit of the Snitch. “Who would enchant a Bludger to kill her?” Draco muttered to himself, still following Alice. He knew that there were other members of the team to protect, but he didn’t care; he wasn’t about to let his best friend get killed during his first match.

Alice had doubled back and was heading in his direction, frowning deeply when she saw the blond heading for her. “What are you doing?” she shouted, her voice barely audible over the volume of the crowd.

“That Bludger is still after you,” Draco answered. “It’s – Watch out!” he shouted, looking over her shoulder and seeing the Bludger heading in their direction. He kicked at his broomstick, urging it to speed up and flew past Alice, taking the hit completely.

Alice screamed as she watched helplessly as Draco fell to the ground dozens of feet below them. The wind around her whistled and she looked up in time to see the offending Bludger sailing towards her; clearly taking Draco out hadn’t been enough for it.

“Come on,” she instructed her broomstick; she needed to catch that Snitch immediately.

The next few moments of her life were the longest Alice had ever experienced. But, eventually her fingers curled around the tiny golden ball and Madam Cassandra blew her whistle, signalling that the game was over.

Not waiting to find out what the final score was, Alice landed and dropped her broomstick to the ground. She pocketed the Snitch and ran across the pitch, dropping to her knees next to Draco’s unconscious form. 

“Draco?” she whispered, placing her hand on the blond’s shoulder and shaking him in an attempt to rouse him.

When he didn’t respond, Alice felt tears well up in her eyes. “Come on, Draco,” she pleaded, trying to wake him up again. “Don’t do this.”

“Step aside, Miss Harkness,” Madame Cassandra instructed, placing a hand on the Slytherin student’s shoulder. “He’ll be okay. He just needs to go to the Hospital Wing. I do think his arm is broken, though.”

They both winced when the Bludger exploded above their heads as a result of a spell of Ianto’s. “Sorry, I couldn’t get a clear enough bead on it earlier,” he apologised, placing his wand in his pocket. “It was a bit difficult when you wouldn’t stop moving.”

“Did I hear you say that his arm was broken?” Lake’s voice asked and Alice heard Madame Cassandra groan. “If you’ll step aside, ladies. I can fix his arm; we’ll have him up and about in no time. A simple charm is all that’s needed.”

Madame Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “I think it would be best if we let Professor Jones handle this. He is the Charms Professor, after all.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Lake insisted. “I’ve done this plenty of times; there’s absolutely no danger what so ever.”

Before they could stop him, Lake was waving his wand around in the air with fair more flair that was necessary. They watched as he pointed the wand at Draco’s arm. 

“There,” Lake said, beaming proudly and pocketing his wand. “All fixed.” He lifted Draco’s arm and Alice had to clap her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from being sick.

“What have you done?” she questioned, her voice muffled by her hand. Draco’s arm didn’t even look like an arm anymore.

“Ah,” Lake murmured. “Yes, well, that can sometimes happen. But, you will notice that the arm is no longer broken.”

Alice lowered her hand, glaring at Lake. “Because there’re no bones left!” she exclaimed. She looked up at Ianto over her shoulder, “Can you reverse it, Professor?” she pleaded of her dad’s boyfriend.

Ianto shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “Only one thing can reverse a spell like that.”

“Skele-Gro potion,” Professor Hart added with a nod of his own head. “I can brew it for Poppy,” he stated, glaring at Lake when he opened his mouth to volunteer.

~

**Chapter 10: Outside Visiting Hours**

Alice was going crazy, she was positive of it. She had been trying to get into the Hospital wing ever since that afternoon and Madame Pomfrey had been refusing her entry all day. The only thing she had been able to find out was that her blond friend was conscious and his arm was slowly on the mend.

She lasted until ten o’clock that night, before she decided that she couldn’t take it any more. 

Alice threw a look over her shoulder, making sure that no one had noticed her – she still wasn’t entirely trusting of the key’s perception properties - before opening the door to the Hospital wing and slipping through.

The beds in the room were empty, except for one in the far corner where Alice could see Draco’s silver blond hair shining in the moonlight coming through the window.

Silently, she headed across the room to Draco’s bed. “Wake up,” she whispered, reaching out and jabbing a finger against Draco’s side.

The blond groaned and batted her hand away with his good arm. “Go ‘way,” he instructed, not opening his eyes.

Alice rolled her eyes and prodded him again, harder than she had before. “Wake up,” she instructed. She didn’t wait for him to react, before she pushed his legs over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Draco finally pushed his eyes open and looked at his friend in the dim light. “Harkness, I took a Bludger for you less than twelve hours ago; surely the least you can do is leave me alone when I’m trying to sleep!” he snapped.

The young witch laughed and shook her head. “So you don’t want these Every Flavour Beans I’ve brought you?” she asked, pulling a box out of her pocket and rattling it teasingly in front of his face.

He stared at her for a long moment, before snatching the box from her hand and trying to open it. When he couldn’t manage, he growled in annoyance and slammed the box down on the mattress. “I hate Lake,” he stated, slumping back against his pillows, grimacing at the pain he felt as he did so.

Alice looked at him sympathetically for a moment. When Draco caught her looking at him, he rolled his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that,” he instructed. “And will you put that damn key down?” he asked, screwing his eyes up.

She sighed and pulled the key from her pocket, placing it on the bedside table. “That better?” she asked, reaching out and opening the box for him.

“Not really,” Draco sighed, taking the box from his friend. “I can still see you. But at least now you’re not giving me a headache.”

Alice glared at him and barely resisted the urge to punch him in the arm. They fell silent for a moment, neither of them feeling the need to say anything, until Alice whispered, “How’s your arm feeling?”

Draco shrugged his good shoulder. “Nothing I can’t survive,” he stated. “Skele-Gro tastes disgusting, though.”

“You didn’t have to take the hit for me, you know?” she scolded, running her fingers over the pattern on the blanket covering her friend.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Don’t be an idiot, Harkness. That Bludger would have killed you.”

“It could have killed you,” Alice reminded him. 

“Yes, but I could have never caught that Snitch,” Draco replied. “At least with you alive, we won the game. We did win, didn’t we? Don’t tell me I got hit by a Bludger for nothing,” he groaned.

Alice smiled and nodded her head. “We did win,” she assured him. “Thank you,” she added, smiling gratefully at him in the moonlight. 

Before Draco could respond, they heard voices from outside the room. “Hide,” Draco hissed, pulling the covers back up and arranging himself so that he looked like he was still sleep. As an afterthought, he stuffed the box of Every Flavour Beans under his pillow.

Quickly Alice dropped to the ground and rolled underneath the bed, thankful the Hospital Wing was kept clean by magic; she didn’t want to give away her hiding place by sneezing because of the dust. She considered reaching up and grabbing the key, but dismissed the idea when he heard the Doctor’s voice answer Madame Pomfrey’s question about what happened.

“Another attack,” he murmured. “Rose found him on the stairs.”

In the moonlight, Alice could see Rose nodding her head. “There was a bunch of grapes next to him,” she informed Pomfrey. “I think he was on his way up here to visit Malfoy.”

“Perhaps he hoped Alice was here with him,” the Doctor added.

Alice rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who they were talking about. Owen had been fast asleep in bed when she’d left and there was only one person she could think of who would think visiting Draco would get them in Alice’s good books; Eugene Creevey.

She leant up on her elbows in an attempt to see Eugene and almost gasped when she did manage to get a glimpse. He was lying flat on his back, staring at nothing with his mouth open and camera in hand; he looked just like Mrs Norris.

“Is he…?” Pomfrey began and Rose nodded.

“I’m afraid so,” the Transfiguration professor agreed. “He’s petrified.”

They fell silent, each of them looking down at the still figure of Creevey for a long moment, before Rose whispered, “You don’t suppose he managed to get a picture of his attacker, do you?”

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and carefully pried the camera from Creevey’s unresponsive fingers. “I think it’s entirely possible,” he agreed, using his fingernail to pry the back of the camera open.

Rose and Pomfrey jumped back in shock when the camera seemed to explode in the Doctor’s hand; even Alice started, banging her head on the metal frame of Draco’s bed. 

“What does this mean, Doctor?” Rose whispered. There was an urgent tone to her voice, mixed with fear. 

The Doctor sighed and lowered the camera, looking down at Creevey, before lifting his gaze and meeting her eyes. “I’m afraid it means that we were right about our suspicions. The Chamber of Secrets is indeed open once more.”

The teacher’s didn’t say anything while Pomfrey covered Eugene’s form up with a blanket, before they left the room, closing the door softly behind them.

As soon as she was sure they weren’t going to return, Alice slid out from under the bed and sat up, looking up at Draco who was studying her with a frown on his face. “What do you think this means?” she asked softly.

Draco shrugged his shoulders, wincing as his bones protested the movement and Alice sighed heavily; he looked just as confused as she felt.

~

**Chapter 11: Duelling Club**

Two days after the Quidditch match, Draco was allowed out of the hospital wing, under orders that he didn’t let Lake try to help ever again. The blond had been all too eager to assure Pomfrey that Lake wasn’t going anywhere near him again.

By the week before they broke up for the Christmas holidays, Alice was ready to break Draco’s arm herself if it would stop him talking about how much of an idiot Lake was and he should be lucky that Lucius hadn’t found out what really happened after the Quidditch match. Personally, Alice thought that Draco didn’t want his father to think he was an idiot for letting Lake use magic on him, but she was clever enough to not say anything.

“Have you seen this?” Owen exclaimed one afternoon on their way from Potions to transfiguration. “They’re starting a duelling club.” He pointed to a piece of parchment that was pinned to a notice board. “And their first meeting’s tonight.”

Alice raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “What?” Owen shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t you think it would be handy to know how to duel?”

“I suppose,” she muttered, rummaging in her bag and pulling out a quill. “Shall I put you two down as well?” Draco nodded his head, but Owen didn’t and Alice frowned. “Aren’t you doing it?”

Owen blushed and ran his hand through his hair. “I already put my name down,” he confessed. “I’ll see you in class,” he mumbled, turning on his heel and practically running up the stairs.

~

“Who do you think will be teaching us?” Owen asked when they arrived in the Great Hall at eight o’clock that evening.

Draco shrugged his shoulders. “No idea,” he muttered. “As long as it’s not…” He trailed off as Lake walked onto the platform that had been created. “Him,” he finished darkly, glaring at the teacher.

Alice rolled her eyes and placed a hand on his arm, trying to soothe him. “Down boy,” she murmured, grinning widely when he turned his glare to her. “You can’t kill him in front of all these witnesses,” she reasoned.

“True,” Draco muttered, his teeth clenched and his jaw set. “I’ll wait until afterwards,” he decided.

“Now,” Lake greeted, once he was sure he had everyone’s attention. “The Doctor has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club. To train you all up in case you need to defend yourselves as I have on countless occasions; for full details see my published works.”

He waited for laughter, before beaming down at them. “Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Hart. He has graciously agreed to help me with a short demonstration.”

Alice covered her mouth with her hand and tried desperately to not laugh at the irritated look on Hart’s face; clearly he hadn’t volunteered his services.

“Now, I don’t want any of you young ones to worry,” Lake continued. “You’ll still have your Potions Master when I’m through.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “I can’t really say I’m too worried,” he muttered, elbowing Alice in the ribs.

The other Slytherin chuckled and nodded her head, making Draco glare at them. “Will you two shut up?” he snapped under his breath. “If I want anyone to get hurt, it’s going to be Lake.”

They watched as Hart and Lake moved to opposite ends of the platform and lifted their wands. “As you can see,” Lake addressed them, “we’re holding our wands in the accepted combative position. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.”

“I wonder if Hart knows that,” Alice muttered, glancing over at Hart.

Lake counted down from three, before Hart said, “Expelliarmus.” Suddenly there was a flight of scarlet light and Lake was thrown backwards along the length of the platform, amidst gasps of horror from his fans and cheers from those that didn’t like him.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher grimaced and got to his feet. “Yes, excellent, Professor Hart. Brilliant idea to show them that, Professor; but if you don’t mind me saying it was a little obvious and it would have only too easy to stop you.”

Hart glared at him and folded his arms across his chest. “Perhaps it would be best to teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Professor,” he suggested.

Lake frowned for a moment, before slowly nodding his head. “Excellent idea, Professor. Now if I could find two volunteers,” he mused, looking around at the students. “Harkness and Finnigan.”

Hart shook his head. “I don’t think that would be the best idea, Professor,” he said, clucking his tongue in disapproval. “Finnigan causes devastation with even the simplest of spells. We’ll be sending Harkness to the Hospital wing in a matchbox.”

Finnigan glared at Hart but Alice shrugged her shoulders. “He’s got a point,” she muttered, glancing at Owen and Draco.

Lake flinched a little before nodding his head. “Any suggestions on who Miss Harkness’ opponent should be?”

Hart smirked and drummed his fingers against his arm. “Perhaps Mister Malfoy would be a good opponent?” he suggested.

Draco’s jaw dropped open as he stared at their head of house in shock. “He’s trying to kill me,” he muttered, pulling his wand out of his pocket and climbing up on to the platform. “My own godfather is trying to kill me.”

Alice stared at Draco, her eyes wide in surprise. “He’s your godfather?” she hissed.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Yes, but can we focus on one thing at once?” he snapped. “Right now I need to kick your arse.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Draco’s retreating back. “Yeah, right. I’ll kick your arse!” she muttered darkly.

Lake clapped his hands. “On the count of three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent – only to disarm,” he added when Alice smirked down the length of the platform at her friend. “We don’t want any accidents now.”

He had barely gotten to ‘two’ when Draco – being the Slytherin that he was – cast a spell which hit Alice square in the chest and sent her flying backwards. “Ow,” she muttered when she landed in a heap a few feet down the platform. “Okay, Malfoy,” she decided. “This means war.”

She jumped to her feet and stalked forward. “Expelliarmus!” she cried, raising her wand and shooting a jet of light at the blond.

The smug smirk on Draco’s face quickly vanished when he too was hit in the chest and sent flying. 

Hart rolled his eyes and hauled the student – his godson, apparently – to his feet. He muttered something in Draco’s ear that was so low even Alice couldn’t hear it, before taking a step back. 

“Serpensortia!” Draco cried, raising his wand above his head.

The students – and Lake – watched in horror as a long black snake shot out of Draco’s wand, falling heavily to the floor no more than six feet away from Alice. A few people in the crowd screamed and Alice was certain someone had fainted when the snake lazily made its way down the platform.

“Don’t move, Harkness,” Hart instructed, a smirk on his face at Alice’s apparently paralysing fear. “I’ll get rid of it.”

Before Hart could even think about withdrawing his wand, Lake stepped forward. “Allow me, Professor,” he said, brandishing his own wand and waving it around dramatically.

There was a loud bang that made everyone jump. But instead of disappearing, the snake flew ten feet into the air, before falling back down and landing with a bang so loud it made Alice wince.

Clearly not happy with the way it was being treated, the snake hissed furiously and slithered straight for the nearest student; Gwen Harper – Owen’s little sister.

Knowing that she couldn’t let her best friend’s sister get bitten by the snake, Alice dashed forward, crying, “Leave her alone!” at the top of her voice. She hadn’t expected it to work, but to her surprise, the snake stopped moving and turned to look at Alice as though it were waiting for further instruction.

Alice looked up at Gwen, smiling a little - only to receive a look of complete fear back, before the younger Gryffindor stormed out of the Hall.

Silently Hart stepped forward, waved his hand and wordlessly got rid of the snake. He, like the rest of the room, was looking at Alice with suspicion and surprise in his eyes.

Alice blinked when she felt someone tugging on her robes. “Come on,” Draco’s voice murmured in her ear. “Come on,” he repeated when she wouldn’t move.

Draco and Owen steered Alice out of the Great Hall and down to the Slytherin common room, which was blissfully empty. Alice had barely gotten her bearings when Owen pushed her down into the armchair and demanded, “What was that about?”

“What are you talking about?” she looked up them.

“You’re a Parselmouth,” Draco stated. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us?” He placed his hands on his hips and glared down at her. 

Alice raised an eyebrow. “I’m a what?” she questioned.

“You can talk to snakes,” Owen stated, an impatient tone in his voice.

“Oh,” she murmured, shrugging her shoulders. “I already knew that.”

Draco looked at Owen in surprise, before sitting down heavily on the couch opposite her. “You knew?”

“Well, not knew knew,” Alice corrected herself. “But when I was a kid there was this snake in London Zoo. I wondered why people were looking at me funny.”

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “This is bad, Alice,” he murmured. 

“What is such a big deal?” Alice snapped. “It’s not like I was telling that snake to attack Gwen. If it wasn’t for me she would have been bitten.”

“Oh, so that’s what you were saying,” Owen murmured, relief washing over his face.

“I thought you said you heard me!” Alice retorted.

Owen and Draco exchanged helpless looks, before Owen sighed and rolled his eyes. “I heard you speaking Parseltongue,” Owen stated slowly. “It just sounded like a load of hissing to me.”

Alice glared at them both before heaving a sigh. “How can I speak a language without knowing I can?” she demanded.

Draco shrugged his shoulders, leaning back on the couch. “I have no idea,” he confessed. “But, I do know it’s probably going to make people think you’re the heir of Slytherin even more than they already did.”

“Brilliant,” Alice drawled, rolling her eyes.

~

**Chapter 12: Gwen Harper**

The next morning their last Herbology lesson of the term was cancelled due to the snow that was so thick it was almost a blizzard. Owen and Draco planned to take advantage of their free time by doing nothing at all; but Alice had other plans.

“I’m going to the library,” she stated, pushing her bag up onto her shoulder and getting to her feet. She rolled her eyes when her friends didn’t answer her and she made her way out of the common room, muttering under her breath about lazy boys.

The library was busier than she had been expecting and Alice almost changed her mind when every single student looked up, glaring at her when they realised who she was. Even those that hadn’t been in the Duelling Club were looking at her with suspicion in their eyes; clearly good news travelled fast in the castle.

Determined to not let her irritation show, she scanned the room with her blue eyes, grinning to herself when she spotted the person she had been looking for.

“Hi,” she greeted, sliding into the seat opposite Gwen and grinning at the first year. “We haven’t been introduced properly. I’m Alice,” she added, extending her hand across the table to Gwen.

Gwen closed the notebook she was writing in and placed her hand in Alice’s, shaking it momentarily before releasing her. “I’m Gwen,” she whispered. “I know who you are; you’re friends with Owen,” she stated.

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes. “For my sins,” she agreed. “Has your class been cancelled as well?” she asked, wondering what the first year was doing in the library when she should be in a classroom somewhere in the castle.

Gwen nodded. “Flying lesson with Madame Cassandra,” she murmured. “But it’s been cancelled because of the snow.”

“Ah,” Alice murmured. “I know that feeling; my Herbology lesson got cancelled as well. But I’m glad you’re here,” she continued, changing the subject completely. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night. I didn’t-,”

“I know you stopped that snake from attacking me,” Gwen interrupted, cutting off the assurances Alice had been working on all morning. 

Alice started a little at Gwen’s admission. “Oh,” she whispered. “That’s – How – What made you sure?” she asked, frowning deeply as she studied the first year.

Gwen smiled and looked down at the old brown book before her with a bashful expression on her face. “You’re my brother’s best friend; you can’t be as bad as people are saying you are.”

Alice scowled and glaring around at the people nearby, who looked away guiltily; obviously they had been trying to listen in on Alice’s and Gwen’s conversation. “That makes me feel so much better,” she muttered. “I think. Thanks for believing I wouldn’t do that,” she added, flashing the first year a thankful smile.

She looked at her watch, before getting to her feet. “I better get back to the common room,” she said. “Otherwise Owen and Draco might actually kill each other; I don’t trust them to be alone in the same place for too long.”

Alice flashed Gwen a brilliant smile – a smile that made people tell her how much like her father she was – before turning on her heel and heading out of the library.

Unbeknownst to Alice, Gwen waited until the door closed behind her, before she opened up the book before her and began to write once more.

Dear Tom…

~

**Chapter 13: A Change In Plans**

The day after lessons finished for Christmas and two days before the Hogwarts Express would collect the students returning home for the holiday, the Doctor called his usual end of term meeting.

Every member of the staff was gathered around the oval shaped table that had placed in the centre of the Doctor’s office. Ianto was certain the room had been magically altered to accommodate everyone; there was no way it was big enough normally.

“As usual, there are a few students who are staying with us for Christmas,” the Doctor said, picking up a pile of parchment in front of him and handing them to Rose, who took one and passed the rest on.

When the headmaster was sure that everyone had a copy, he continued, “Everyone knows how Christmas works here.”

Lake raised his hand and Ianto was sure the Doctor sighed to himself. “Excuse me, Professor,” he said with a simpering smile. “It’s been a while since I was a student; perhaps you could go over the procedure?”

This time it was Ianto that sighed and he pinched the bridge of his nose as he slid back in the chair, only half-listening to what the Doctor was explaining. “There are no classes – obviously – and the house-elves will serve breakfast up to half past eleven if needed.”

Rose nodded and took over from the Doctor. “Christmas dinner is served at two in the afternoon, with a light tea if anyone wants something else up to seven-thirty.”

“The same curfews that apply throughout the year still stand,” Hart added, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat.

“Although,” the Doctor amended, “punishing a student on Christmas Day is a little harsh, don’t you think, John?” Hart shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. Although, the action seemed to go unnoticed by the Doctor, who turned back to Lake and asked, “Does that make sense?”

Lake nodded, beaming from ear to ear as he gathered up the parchment Donna had handed him. “Perfectly.”

The Doctor smiled and glanced around at his staff. “I think that’s it,” he said, getting to his feet and pushing his chair back. “Have a nice Christmas everyone.”

Ianto sighed to himself, happy that he could return to his quarters and reply to the most recent letter Jack had sent him. As he got to his feet, he glanced down at the list of students that were staying for the Christmas holidays; Alice’s name was on it.

The Charms professor frowned to himself and tried to remember if Jack had said anything about her not going home, but he couldn’t recall it ever coming up in conversation. In fact, if anything, Jack had seemed excited to have Alice home for two weeks.

“Doctor?” Ianto made a spilt second decision and approached the headmaster’s desk as the other teacher’s left. “I was wondering if it would be possible to spend Christmas away from the castle this year?”

The Doctor regarded Ianto with a raised eyebrow at his request; Ianto had spent every Christmas for the past seven years at the school. “Of course it is,” he assured the Professor. “I think after all this time of spending the holiday here, you deserve a break.”

Ianto smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Doctor,” he murmured, turning on his heel and heading for the door.

“Do you have any plans?” he heard the Doctor ask curiously from behind him.

Ianto stopped and scowled deeply, before turning around to face the headmaster with a neutral expression. “I thought I would go see my father,” he answered, hoping he didn’t look like he was lying; he hadn’t seen his father for years and didn’t intend to.

The Doctor smiled and Ianto had to force himself to not look relieved. “That’s good to hear,” he murmured, his eyes flickering over to a painting of a redhead woman on the wall, as he seemed to become lost in a memory. 

Ianto followed his gaze and flushed hotly when he made eye contact with Scarlet, who smiled and winked at him. 

The Doctor saw the action and looked back at Ianto, raising an eyebrow when he saw how embarrassed the teacher looked. “Is there something you two haven’t been telling me?” he questioned, chuckling to himself.

Scarlet rolled her eyes and walked out of her frame, muttering something about nosey head teachers as she went. 

“She’s just a flirt,” Ianto mumbled, trying to not look the Doctor in the eye; he was not about to confess that he had fucked the headmaster’s nephew over his desk, and been caught by Scarlet. He cleared his throat and shook himself out of the memory. “Have a nice Christmas,” he murmured, inclining his head a little before leaving the office and closing the door behind him.

~

Jack sighed and leant back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. He was so bored. Alice had changed her mind about coming home for Christmas, and – while he had tried to pretend to be okay with it – Jack missed her more than he could say and he wished she’d come back like she had the year before.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing something on that computer?” a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

Jack jumped and fell off his chair, landing in a painful heap on the floor. Ianto laughed and entered the office fully, looking at his boyfriend over the desk. “You okay down there?” he asked, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk.

The other wizard stared up at him with an open mouth. “I… You… What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Ianto chuckled and moved around the desk, holding his hand out to Jack. “I’ll explain when I don’t have to look down at you; I prefer you on your knees, anyway,” he stated, pulling Jack to his feet and kissing him softly. “I thought we could spend Christmas together since Alice is staying at school.”

Jack pulled back and looked at Ianto with a surprised expression on his face. “How did you know about that?” he asked, before rolling his eyes at himself. “You’re her teacher, of course you knew! Wait,” he paused, frowning deeply, “how did you get in here?”

The other man grinned and pulled away from Jack. “I’m a Charms teacher, J,” he reminded him. “Unlocking your front door was the easiest thing in the world. You really need to learn some new spells.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t locked with magic.”

Ianto laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “The illusion charm on the key under the doormat didn’t work on me either,” he admitted.

Jack blushed bashfully and wrapped his arms around Ianto’s neck, pulling him closer and kissing him softly. “So, it’s just you and me for Christmas?” he asked, a smile spreading across his face. “The last time I woke up next to you on Christmas day was…”

“1980,” Ianto finished immediately. “It was snowing,” he added with a nostalgic smile. They fell silent for a moment, before Ianto shook himself out of his reverie. “When I saw that Alice wasn’t coming home for Christmas, I thought we could do something.”

Jack smiled and pressed a soft kiss against Ianto’s lips. “How did you know I didn’t have plans to spend Christmas with Remus?”

Ianto chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I sent him an owl and asked what you were doing,” he stated. “When he said you weren’t doing anything besides sulking, I made a few calls and managed to get us tickets to the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve,” he added.

Jack’s eyes lit up and Ianto had to force himself not to laugh; Jack had always loved going to the Muggle ballet and had confided in Ianto that he had been devastated when Alice showed no interest in taking ballet lessons as a child. “Really?” he breathed in awe.

Ianto nodded and let out a startled noise when Jack stepped forward and crushed their lips together in a passionate kiss. “I love you,” Jack whispered, breaking apart and resting his forehead against Ianto’s. “Thank you,” he added, looking into the other man’s blue eyes.

The professor grinned and kissed Jack softly. “I love you, too,” he whispered, placing his hand in his lover’s and leading him out of the office. 

~

**Chapter 14: Moaning Myrtle**

Lessons started the day after the Christmas holiday’s finished, much to Draco’s annoyance; he spent most of breakfast that morning complaining how early it was, before Alice growled in annoyance and threw a piece of toast at him.

On the way to their first Transfiguration lesson of the year, Draco announced, “I asked my father about the Chamber of Secrets over Christmas.”

Alice stopped in her tracks and stared at Draco, her jaw falling open, before she punched him in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us yesterday?” she demanded.

Draco scowled and rubbed his sore arm, glaring at her as they continued up the stairs. “Because I’ve only just remembered, that’s why!” he snapped.

Owen rolled his eyes and pushed his way in between them. “You two argue like an old married couple,” he informed them. “What did your father say?” he asked, looking at the blond.

“He wouldn’t say much,” Draco began. “He didn’t tell me who the heir of Slytherin is, or anything useful. But he did say that it’s been fifty years since the chamber was opened last.”

“Fifty?” Alice exclaimed.

Draco nodded. “And he mentioned that the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened a Mudblood-,” Alice glared at him and he flushed. “Sorry,” he apologised. “A Muggle Born was killed.”

Owen’s eyes widened in horror and he stared at Draco, dread filling his stomach. “Killed?” he echoed. “What the-?” he cried when their feet splashed through puddles. “Did it rain inside?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Moaning Myrtle’s flooded her bathroom again,” she stated with a sigh.

“And who, exactly, is Moaning Myrtle?” Draco questioned, following Alice down the corridor. “I’m not going in there!” he added, seeing that she had pushed open the door to the girl’s bathroom.

“There’s no one in here,” she assured him. “Most girls try to avoid using this bathroom because of Myrtle.”

“Again,” Draco sighed, following her and Owen, “I ask who’s Moaning Myrtle?”

Before Alice could answer, a ghost flew out from inside one of the toilet cubicles, not stopping until she was right in front of Draco. “I’m Moaning Myrtle!” she cried, her voice so high pitched it made Owen and Draco wince a little. “Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to know me. Who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, Moaning Myrtle?” She sobbed and flew off over Draco’s head.

Alice sighed and watched as Myrtle came to a stop on top of a column of sinks. “Myrtle, these are my friends, Owen and Draco,” she introduced them, pointing to each of the boys in turn.

Myrtle scowled down at them and folded her translucent arms across her ghostly chest. “Have you come to throw something else at me?” she demanded, sniffling lightly.

Alice frowned and exchanged confused glances with Owen and Draco. “Why would we throw something at you?” she questioned softly, looking back at Myrtle.

“Don’t ask me!” Myrtle mumbled. “I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death when it fell through the top of my head.”

“What fell through your head?” Draco asked, looking around for the offending item and frowning when he couldn’t see anything.

Myrtle glared at him as though he was the one that had thrown the diary, before nodding to her cubicle. As Draco ducked inside the cubicle and retrieved the object, Myrtle let out a whine that made his head hurt and flew up to the large stained glass window above their heads.

“It’s just a book,” he murmured, flicking through its soggy pages. “And it’s all blank,” he added, handing the book to Alice. She frowned deeply as she looked at the leather bound book she had just been handed. “What’s wrong with you?”

Alice shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing,” she mumbled. “I just feel like I’ve seen this before,” she added, turning her gaze up to Myrtle - only to discover that the ghost had disappeared.

“Guys,” Owen whispered from where he was standing by the door to the bathroom. “We’d better go. We’re already late for Transfiguration; Professor Tyler will be furious if we’re any longer.”

Alice and Draco glanced at their watches, before letting out exclamations of horror when they realised Owen was right, and sprinting out of the bathroom; Alice stuffing the book in her bag as she went.

~

**Chapter 15: Tom Riddle**

The clock tower struck midnight and in the second year Slytherin girl’s dorm room, Alice was still wide-awake. She couldn’t stop thinking about the book she had found earlier that day. She had used a spell to dry it out and discovered that Draco was right; it was nothing more than a blank book.

She couldn’t stop thinking about where she had seen the book before and not being able to place it was really getting on her nerves.

With a sigh, she threw back her covers and shifted to the bottom of the bed, rummaging around in the dark for her backpack. She smiled when her fingers brushed against the leather of the book and pulled it free from her bag.

Getting back under her covers, she reached under the pillow and grabbed her wand, whispering, “Lumos,” under her breath.

She rested the wand on her mattress and reached down, pulling a biro from the drawer in her bedside table; they really were so much easier than quills.

“I must be losing my mind,” she muttered to herself, putting the pen to the paper and writing the word, ‘Hello’.

Her eyes widened when the word disappeared before her very eyes and she wrote, ‘My name is Alice Harkness’. 

Again the words disappeared and in their place different words appeared, ‘Hello, Alice Harkness. My name is Tom Riddle’.

Alice frowned, trying to think of anyone she knew – student or otherwise – called Tom Riddle, but she couldn’t think of anyone. ‘Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?’ she wrote, trying to work out if someone getting rid of the book had something to do with what had been happening in the school lately.

As before, the writing vanished and Alice thought that she wasn’t going to get any information from whomever it was that controlled the book. Just when she was about to give up, one word appeared on the page. ‘Yes’.

Grinning to herself, Alice asked if the book could tell her. She let out an involuntary cry of annoyance when the book retorted that it wouldn’t tell her. ‘But I can show you,’ it added after a momentary pause.

Before Alice could react, the pages of the book began to blow as though a wind had swept through the room and it exploded in a flash of light that was so bright Alice feared the others in the dorm room would wake up.

She couldn’t worry about them for too long, however, as she felt herself being pulled forward into the book.

Alice fell for what felt like hours, before her feet hit solid ground and she had to grit her teeth to keep her balance. 

She looked up when she heard footsteps coming towards her and frowned when she saw a Prefect coming in her direction. She was about to say something to explain her being out after light’s out, but the dark haired man continued down the corridor, not even looking at her.

“Headmaster,” he greeted, heading up the stairs. 

Alice turned around, expecting to see her great-uncle; she was surprised when she saw that the man standing at the top of the stairs was at least twenty years older than the Doctor, with a head that was completely bald; save for the wispy strands of hair above his ears.

“It’s not wise to be wandering around the castle at this late hour, Tom,” the headmaster responded.

Riddle sighed and nodded his head. “Yes, Professor Dippet. I suppose… I was just wondering if the rumours were true.”

Dippet glanced back at the door behind him and sighed as Aurors carried out a stretcher. Alice drew in a gasp of horror when a hand slipped out from under the white sheet and she realised that there was a dead body on the stretcher. 

“I’m afraid they are, Tom,” Dippet sighed and hung his head.

A nervous look appeared on Riddle’s face and Alice saw him swallow and lick his lips, before he asked, “And the rumours about the school? You wouldn’t really close Hogwarts, would you?”

Dippet finally looked up and met Riddle’s scared eyes. “I’m afraid I may have no choice.” He fell silent when an Auror stepped up to him and they had a quiet conversation that Riddle clearly hadn’t been able to what they were saying, because it was almost like all of Alice’s senses had been muted and her normally excellent hearing was failing her.

“I’m afraid I have to go, Mr Riddle,” Dippet finally said as the Auror finishing talking and moved away from the headmaster. “There are things that need to be dealt with as a result of this.”

Riddle nodded his head and stepped to the side out of respect, and watched as the headmaster followed the Auror down the corridor.

Alice felt a weight on her chest and she felt herself being pulled backwards, away from Riddle. Before she knew it, she landed back on her mattress with a painful crash. “Ow,” she muttered, clutching her side as she glanced at the diary in the wand light.

The diary hadn’t really told her anything she didn’t already know. But at least there was no doubt that Draco’s father had been right about someone dying the last time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

~

Despite the horrible events that were happening – with the addition of Eugene and Mrs Norris, a Muggle born from Hufflepuff had been petrified as well – the end of year exams still continued as normal; despite Owen and Draco’s protests that it wasn’t safe to have all the students in one room.

Alice had been trying to get the diary to tell her more about the Chamber since that first night, but it refused to yield any other information. In fact, when she tried to ask, Riddle would clam up and not say another word. 

She didn’t think Draco and Owen had noticed her constantly writing in the diary until they cornered her in the common room after their practical Charms exam; which was not easier with Ianto being her dad’s boyfriend – if anything it had seemed harder.

“What are you doing?” she demanded as Draco forced her to sit down on the couch.

Draco and Owen sat on the coffee table and folded their arms across their chests. “We think you’re getting obsessed with that diary,” Draco stated and Owen nodded his head.

Alice glared at them. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she scoffed, trying to get to her feet, but Draco’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“You been talking to that thing every night since you found it,” Owen stated and Alice’s eyes widened in surprise. “What, did you think we wouldn’t figure it out? Look at you; you’re exhausted.”

Alice glanced over at Draco, who was trying to act as innocent as he could; a task no Slytherin should ever attempt, Alice decided. “You agree with him, don’t you?” she accused, never taking her eyes off Draco.

The blond flushed before he composed himself and glared at her. “I just don’t think it’s right; talking to a book.”

“I’m trying to find out if it knows anything about the Chamber of Secrets!” Alice exclaimed indignantly. 

Draco raised an eyebrow. “Has it mentioned anything about in the past week? Anything other than what it showed you the night we found it.” Alice remained silent and Draco sighed, “We should give it to the Doctor,” he decided.

“What?” Alice exclaimed. “No way!”

“I think he’s right,” Owen agreed with a nod of his head. “Or at least we should tell Professor Jones. He might be able to see what kind of charm was used on the diary, and find a way to stop it.”

Alice scoffed and shook her head. “That’s even worse that telling the Doctor. Jones won’t even hesitate; he’ll tell my dad and you’ll never see me again, ‘cos he’ll pull me out of school faster than you can say ‘Quidditch’.”

Draco and Owen glanced at each other, before seeming to come to some kind of silent agreement. “Fine,” Owen muttered. “We won’t tell either of them.”

Alice beamed, clearly thinking she had won. “But,” Draco added, wiping the smile from her face, “we do want you to get rid of the diary.”

Alice scowled and folded her arms across her chest. “Fine,” she muttered darkly. “But how – oh great geniuses – am I supposed to get rid of it? I can’t throw it away, because someone else will find it.”

Draco and Owen looked at each other; clearly they hadn’t thought of that. “You could always burn it?” Draco suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

“It could work,” Owen agreed.

Alice sighed and nodded her head, getting to her feet. “I’ll go get it,” she muttered.

They watched as she jogged across the common room and disappeared through the doors that lead to the dorm rooms.

“Do you think she’ll actually get it?” Owen asked softly, glancing over at Draco.

The blond shook his head. “Not a hope in hell.”

Less than five minutes later, Alice returned with a thunderous look on her face. “It’s not there,” she stated, her voice low and angry. 

Draco snorted with laughter. “Told you,” he muttered to Owen. “Come on, Harkness. Just stop messing around and get the diary.”

Alice glared at him. “I’ve told you,” she retorted through gritted teeth. “It isn’t there. Go see for yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

Not needing a second invitation, Owen and Draco jumped to their feet and ran to Alice’s dorm room. They gasped in shock when they saw the state of the room. It looked as though a tornado had been through it – focusing only on Alice’s things.

“Did you do this?” Owen asked.

Alice rolled her eyes. “Why would I do this to my own stuff?” she demanded. 

“Has anything been taken?” Draco asked, glancing around in an attempt to see if any thing was missing.

Alice shook her head. “Just the diary,” she replied, sitting down on the only corner of her bed that didn’t have something on it. “How could someone manage to steal it without me realising?” she wondered, looking up at her friends.

“Well, we know one thing for certain,” Draco said. “Only a Slytherin could have done this; there’s no way anyone else could get the password.”

 

~

**Chapter 16: The Writing On The Wall**

Two days later, they hadn’t figured out who had broken into her room and Alice was trying desperately to ignore thinking about it; the knowledge that someone had gone through her things made her want to be physically sick.

Halfway through dinner, the door at the front of the hall opened and Rose slipped inside. “If I could have your attention for a moment,” she said; her voice magically amplified so it could be heard over the chatter of the students.

It didn’t take long for the school to fall silent and Rose continued, “I’m sorry to interrupt your meals, but if you could please follow your Prefects back to the houses. We’ll arrange for food to be brought up in a short while.”

She exchanged meaningful looks with Ianto and Hart, before disappearing back out of the door. The Charms and Potions professors looked at each other in surprise for a moment, before jumping to their feet and following her from the hall.

Alice blinked when she felt herself being ushered out of the room and turned to see one of their Prefects trying to get her attention. “Sorry,” she muttered under her breath, grabbing a bread roll from her plate, before following the others.

She glanced back over her shoulder, checking that they were out of sight of the Prefect, before grabbing Owen and Draco and pulling them into an alcove. 

“What are you doing?” Draco hissed, pulling his hand out of her grip as he glared at her. 

“Shh,” Alice whispered. “I think whatever it is that’s happened is to do with the Chamber of Secrets,” she stated.

Owen rolled his eyes. “We said you were obsessed,” he stated.

“This is not about me being obsessed,” Alice retorted. “Come on,” she instructed, seeing the corridor had emptied herself. “I want to see where they were going.”

They found Rose, Ianto and Hart standing in the middle of a one of the school’s many hallways, staring at the wall. 

“What’s going on?” Owen wondered quietly. 

“Shh,” Alice whispered, pushing him and Draco into an alcove before diving in behind them. 

“I can’t hear what they’re saying,” Draco muttered, folding his arms sulkily across his chest and leaning back against the wall.

Alice rolled his eyes and shushed him again. “I can hear them,” she retorted.

“Why does this have to happen now when the Doctor’s not here?” Rose sighed.

“Maybe this happened today because he’s not here?” Ianto suggested. “His monthly meetings with Minister Saxon aren’t exactly top secret; it’s possible whoever is responsible for this, did it intentionally.”

Rose sighed and fell silent, forcing Alice to stick her head out from the alcove to check they hadn’t walked off. They had stepped to the side and she had to force herself to not gag at the words written on the wall: Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.

“What are we going to do?” Hart finally asked after what felt like an eternity of silence.

Rose glanced over at Ianto and the Charms professor shook his head. “You can’t,” he murmured, taking a step back.

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Rose whispered. “It’s not safe for the children to be here. It’ll be up to the Doctor, of course, when he gets back; but we have to send them home. It’s just not safe. I-,”

A door slamming open interrupted her and for a moment Alice thought the Doctor had returned early from his usual meeting; Alice knew about the meetings, because her great-uncle had a habit of visiting her and Jack every time he was in London – which was every month.

Her hopes where shattered when they saw Lake striding towards the other teachers with a confident expression on his face. “I’m so sorry,” he apologised. “Dozed off. What have I missed?” he asked as though Rose had invited him personally.

She heard someone sigh, although she couldn’t tell who it was, before Ianto reluctantly said, “There’s been another message from the heir of Slytherin.” He nodded to the writing on the wall. 

Hart nodded his head and Alice saw him smirk now that he didn’t have his back to her. “A girl has been taken,” he added. “Your moment has finally come.”

Lake blanched and Ianto chuckled darkly, clearly knowing what Hart had been implying. “That’s right. Weren’t you saying just last night that you’ve known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was?”

“Well – I – See -,” he spluttered, his face going red.

“And I seem to remember you saying you knew how to get inside it,” Hart continued from Ianto with a nod of his head.

“Did I?” Lake practically whispered. “I don’t think I-,”

Rose grinned. “That settles it,” she decided, clapping her hands and making Lake jump. “We’ll leave it to you to figure things out.”

She looked at Hart and Ianto, before indicating that they should lead the way down the corridor. When they were far enough away from Lake, Rose looked over at Hart and smiled. “That was a pretty good idea,” she complimented.

Hart smiled back at her. “At least it gets him out of our hair until we can figure out how best to go about this,” he muttered.

Footsteps sounded on the corridor and they all looked up to see Donna running towards them, her face flushed and her eyes full of tears. “The counting charm you used on the doors to the Great Hall worked,” she stated, looking at Ianto. “Only one student wasn’t in the Great Hall.”

“Who?” Rose asked urgently.

Donna swallowed and ran a hand over her face, before looking the deputy head in the eye. “Gwen Harper.”

~

**Chapter 17: Lake vs. Harkness**

Alice felt Owen slide down to the ground and, as the teachers quickly followed Donna down the corridor – leaving Lake standing by the writing – she turned to face her friend, crouching down beside him.

“She’ll be okay,” she swore, placing a hand on Owen’s shoulder.

Owen scoffed and shook his head. “How? With that idiot looking for her, she’ll be dead before anyone can figure out where the Chamber is.”

“Not necessarily,” Alice replied, getting to her feet and stepping out of the alcove. “Professor Lake?” she called, stalking down the corridor to where Lake was still standing, staring blankly at the writing.

Lake blinked in surprise and looked up. “Ah, Miss Harkness,” he greeted. “I believe you should be in your common room. Now, if you’ll have to excuse me; I have things I need to attend to.”

He tried to step around her, but Alice wasn’t letting him go without a fight. “I know about the Chamber of Secrets,” she stated. 

The Defence Against the Dark Arts professor stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “I’m afraid I can’t handle that at the present moment. This will have to be dealt with by the Doctor when he returns.”

Owen and Draco had followed Alice out of the alcove, and Owen glared at Lake. “My sister is trapped in that Chamber and Professor Tyler trusted you to get her out of there. You can’t just abandon her now!”

Lake swallowed nervously. “Yes, about that; I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. I have to go; urgent business. No regrets more than I-,”

Owen went red in the face and Alice worried that he was going to burst something. “You’re running away? After all that stuff you did in your books?”

“Books can be misleading,” Lake mumbled, trying to get past them; he scowled when they moved to block his exit. 

“You wrote them!” Owen pointed out.

“Oh, my dear boy, do use your common sense,” Lake snapped. “My books wouldn’t have sold half as well if people didn’t think I’d done all those things.”

“I always knew you were a fake,” Alice stated, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at her chest. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you haven’t done anything you’ve said

Lake scoffed and turned to look at Owen when he asked, “Is there anything you can do?”

“Yes, now that you mention it,” Lake nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wand. “I’m rather gifted with memory charms. Otherwise all those wizards would have gone blabbing and I’d never have sold another book. As a matter of fact, I’m going to have to do that same-,”

He trailed of when he found three wands pointing at him from different angles. “If you think you think you can get away with that, you really are as dumb as you seem,” Alice stated, holding her hand out for Lake’s wand.

When the wand was in her hand, she threw it down the corridor as hard as she could, despite Lake’s dismayed cry. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll find it later,” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. “Now, you’re coming with us into that Chamber and we’re going to get Gwen back.”

Owen and Draco looked at Alice in confusion. “How are we going to find the entrance?” Draco questioned.

“I’ve been thinking about what Riddle showed me and where that student was killed,” Alice explained. “Dippet and Riddle were right here when they brought body out, I’m sure of it. And then I thought what if the person that died never left that area.”

Her eyes trailed over to a nearby door and Draco’s widened in surprise. “You mean…?”

Alice nodded. “Moaning Myrtle,” she finished. “Come on,” she instructed to Lake, her eyes daring him to argue.

Seeing sense for possibly the first time in his life, Lake lead them through the doorway a few feet away and into Myrtle’s bathroom.

“What are they doing here?” the female ghost spat the instant she saw Alice with Draco, Owen and Lake.

Alice took a step forward, trusting that Owen and Draco would keep their eyes on Lake. “We came to ask you about…” She looked over at her friends for encouragement before adding, “We came to ask you how you died.”

To their surprise, Myrtle’s face lit up as she grinned down at them. “Oh,” she murmured. “It was terrible. It happened right here in this very cubicle.”

Alice exchanged a look with her friends, before focusing her attention on Myrtle once more when she realised that the ghost was still talking. “I’d hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying and I heard someone come in.”

“Who was it?” Draco asked before Alice could open her mouth.

Myrtle glared at him. “I don’t know! I was distraught!” She turned back to Alice and continued, “But they said something funny; a kind of made up language. And I realised it was a boy speaking, so I unlocked the door to tell him to go away-,” She threw a meaningful glare at Lake, Owen and Draco. “And… I died,” she finished, with a mournful sigh.

“Just like that?” Alice asked. “What happened?”

Moaning Myrtle shrugged her ghostly shoulders. “I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. Over there, by that sink,” she added, pointing to the sinks in the centre of the room, before disappearing into the toilet below her.

The second years ran over to the sinks – Owen and Draco never letting their wands leave Lake – and inspected them. “Why would it come from over here?” Owen asked. “Nothing looks special to me.”

Alice moved around the other side of the sinks and let out a gasp when she saw that one of the sinks had a tiny snake etched onto the tap. “I think I’ve found it,” she stated.

Draco appeared beside her, closely followed by Lake and Owen. “Your eyesight still amazes me,” the blond murmured when he saw how small the snake actually was.

“I’m not a Seeker for nothing,” she retorted, grinning before turning serious once more. “If this is the entrance, how are we supposed to open it?”

Owen frowned, before an idea came to him. “Tyler told us it’s something that only the heir of Slytherin can open. Slytherin was big on snakes, clearly; and you can talk to snakes. Why don’t you try speaking Parseltongue?” he suggested.

Alice shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the sink. “Open up,” she tried. When nothing happened, she looked over at the others.

Draco shook his head. “That was English,” he informed her.

The young girl sighed and looked back at the sink. She closed her eyes and imagined that the etching of a snake was real and moving. She opened her mouth and said, “Open up.” 

Her eyes flew open in surprise when she heard a creaking noise and they all jumped back as they watched the sink distort. “Wow,” Alice whispered, looking down through the opening that had been created. “You’ve got to admit, that’s some pretty high level magic.”

“Salazar Slytherin was one of the greatest wizards of all time. He-,” Lake began.

Draco rolled his eyes and pressing his wand against Lake’s neck. “Do yourself a favour,” he instructed. “Keep your mouth shut and get down there.” He nodded to the entrance.

Lake stared at him, with his mouth wide open. “You can’t honestly be suggesting that I go down there!”

Alice grinned and nodded her head, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s exactly what he’s suggesting. After you, Professor,” she said, taking a step back.

Lake looked as though he wanted to argue with them, but one look at the students made him change his mind. “Are you sure you don’t want to go-,” He never finished his sentence before Alice rolled her eyes and pushed him down the entrance.

They could hear him screaming for a long moment, before everything went silent. “Are you alive?” Alice called, trying to see down the dark shaft.

Draco crossed his fingers and murmured, “Please don’t answer. Please don’t answer.”

“It really is quite filthy down here,” Lake’s disembodied voice came floating up to them.

Alice looked up and turned her head to look at her friends. “Who’s next?” she questioned. 

Both Owen and Draco took a step back. “This was your idea,” Owen murmured, swallowing fearfully.

Alice sighed and was about to jump down after Lake when she heard Myrtle say, “Alice, if you die down there, you’re welcome to share my toilet.”

Ignoring the laughs from her friends, Alice took a deep breath and plunged down in the darkness below her. 

After an age, she landed on the ground next to Lake with a painful thud. “Ow,” she murmured, rolling to the side when she heard the sound of Owen and Draco’s cries from above her. “Exactly how far down are we?” she muttered, glancing up through the darkness to the bathroom, which appeared to be a tiny speck.

“No idea,” Draco murmured, getting to his feet and dusting off his robes. “But, I know I’m getting sick of jumping down into dark holes every year.”

Alice nodded her head in agreement and got to her own feet. “Come on,” she whispered. “Remember, close your eyes at any sign of movement,” she stated.

“We’re not Mud- Muggle Borns,” Draco pointed out.

“But we don’t know what’s down here, or what effect it will have on us,” Owen pointed out, following Alice with Draco and Lake.

A little way down the corridor, Alice paused and held her hand up, stopping them in their tracks. 

“What is it?” Owen whispered, stepping around her and running his hand over the large object blocking their way.

“I think it’s a snake,” Lake replied.

Alice rolled her eyes. “It’s a snake’s skin,” she corrected him, climbing over the obstacle.

Owen jumped back in horror. “Oh, that’s disgusting,” he grimaced, glaring at Draco and wiping his hand on the blond’s robes when he laughed.

“At least we know what’s down here now,” Draco commented, following Alice over the snake and further down the corridor. “I suppose a snake makes sense if Slytherin could really talk to them.”

Alice nodded her head. “A snake would be something that ‘only the heir of Slytherin could control’,” she agreed.

They both turned around when they heard something hit the ground. “How the hell did he get people believing that he’d fought all those creatures,” Alice muttered when she saw that Lake had fainted at Owen’s feet.

Owen shrugged his shoulders and pushed Lake with the tip of his trainer. “I think he’s out cold,” he stated, pulling his wand out and moving to follow his friends. “Let’s just leave him.”

Draco nodded. “Yeah, we can pick him up on our way back. Maybe,” he added with an evil smirk.

Alice laughed and shook her head, turning away from Owen and moving over to a set of nearby ladders attached to a ledge before. She turned back around when she heard a surprised yelp from Owen, and let out a sigh when she saw that Lake was holding Owen at wand point.

“Let him go, Lake,” she instructed, hopping down from the ladder and staring at the teacher.

Lake shook his head. “I’m sorry, Miss Harkness, but I’m afraid the adventure ends here. We’re not going in that chamber; in fact you won’t even remember being in it. But don’t worry, the whole world will find out what happened down here. They’ll know all about me being too late to save the girl, and how you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body.”

He pushed Owen away from him with such force that he stumbled into Draco and nearly knocked the blond over. “Ob-Obliviate!” Lake stammered, taking a step forward and stumbling a little as he held Owen’s wand high over his head.

Almost immediately there was a large bag and a loud of dust enveloped the area. “Move,” Alice exclaimed when rocks began to fall from above them. She pushed Owen and Draco forward, just as half the ceiling collapsed between them; Owen and Draco on one side, her on the other.

“Oh,” Lake murmured. “The girl who lived being trapped inside the Chamber of Secrets; this is brilliant stuff. It’s practically writing itself.”

Owen rolled his eyes and drew back his fist, punching Lake in the face and knocking him out. 

“Is he actually unconscious this time?” Draco asked, glancing down at their immobile teacher.

“If he knows what’s good for him, he will be,” Owen stated, kicking Lake for good measure. “Serves him right for trying to use a wand that’s not his.”

“I think him saying the word wrong probably didn’t help either,” Draco muttered, before jogging over to the pile of rubble. “Alice?” he called loudly, hoping that the other Slytherin had gotten out of the way before the debris landed on her.

“I’m okay!” Alice’s disembodied voice called from the other side. “Where’s Owen?”

“Here!” Owen replied, assuring her that both he and Draco were perfectly okay; none of them mentioned Lake. “You go on; we’ll clear some of this stuff away so you can get back out.”

On the other side, Alice sighed and nodded her head, pulling her wand out and saying, “Lumos,” to light her way. “Wish me luck,” she whispered to herself.

Before she began climbing the ladder she heard Draco’s voice say, “Good luck,” but she didn’t reply. From the quietness of his voice, he had whispered it and that would raise far too many questions she didn’t think she was ready to answer yet.

~

**Chapter 18: Inside the Chamber**

If Alice hadn’t been so scared, she would have said that the Chamber of Secrets was gorgeous. She jumped down from the ledge and found herself in a long corridor that seemed to go on forever. The corridor was lined with giant sculptures of snakes, their emerald eyes seeming to glow in the dim light. At the far end, she could see a giant statue of a man – whom she presumed was Salazar Slytherin.

Her eyes travelled down to the base of the statue and she felt bile rise in her throat. Lying flat on her back on the damn floor was Gwen Harper.

Alice broke into a run and found herself next to Gwen in less than a second. “Gwen?” she whispered, crouching down next to her. “Please wake up. You can’t be dead; Owen’ll kill me if you don’t wake up.”

“She won’t wake,” a familiar voice said from the shadows a few feet away from her, making Alice jump out of her skin.

“Tom,” she breathed, seeing the former Prefect before her; looking as young as he had in the diary. “What do you mean she won’t wake? She’s not…”

“She’s still alive,” Riddle assured her. “But only just.”

Alice watched as Riddle bent down and picked something up from the ground. Horror filled her when she realised it was her wand that she must have dropped in her haste to get to Gwen. “What are you doing?” she demanded, getting to her feet and holding her hand out. “Give me my wand back,” she instructed.

Riddle shook his head. “I’m afraid you won’t be needing it.”

Alice sighed impatiently; she didn’t know what kind of joke Riddle was playing on her, or how he was even in front of her, but she knew that they didn’t have time for parlour tricks. “Look, Tom,” she said, an urgency in her voice. “We’ve got to go. I don’t know what monster’s down here, but I have a feeling it will be here soon, and-,”

“The Basilisk won’t come until it’s called,” Riddle interrupted her.

Alice took a step back. “But…” She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs of confusion away from her mind. “How are you even here? You were-,”

“A memory preserved in a diary for fifty-years,” Riddle informed her. His eyes flickered over to Gwen and Alice noticed for the first time that the missing diary was underneath Gwen’s pale hand. Riddle bent down and ran a hand over Gwen’s hair.

“Don’t touch her!” Alice spat, her eyes flashing. “Let her go.”

Riddle chuckled and got to his feet. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Alice. As horrible as it is for poor Gwen, as she grows weaker, I grow stronger.”

“You’re going to kill her!” Alice shouted.

“That’s correct,” Riddle agreed. “But, considering what I’ve had to listen to all year, I think her death is the best thing for every one.” Alice frowned deeply and Riddle chuckled, “You have no idea how boring it is to listen to an eleven-year-old with a serious case of hero-worship. I thought I’d finally gotten rid of her and found someone more interesting when you started writing to me, then she had to go and steal me back.”

Riddle waved his hand and a few feet away, Alice saw Gwen waiting near the entrance to the Slytherin common room. “She felt so guilty about having to break into your bedroom to get the diary back,” Riddle added. He waved his hand once more and the image disappeared. “I’m afraid she’s addicted to the power of the diary; she simply couldn’t function without it.”

“If you’re not real, then…”

Riddle nodded. “Yes,” he agreed. “It was Gwen Harper who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Gwen who wrote the threatening messages on the wall. She even cursed the Bludger to kill you during the Quidditch match; that look a lot of practising to get right – poor first year’s simply can’t do spells as complex as that on the first attempt.”

“But why?” Alice asked, trying to keep Riddle talking while she thought of a plan. 

“Because I told her to,” Riddle shrugged his shoulders a little. “You’ll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she doing, of course. She was in a kind of trance. After a while, the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it. And then, who should find it, but you. The very person I was most anxious to meet.”

Alice took a small step back at his words. “And why would you want to meet me?” she demanded.

Riddle chuckled darkly and the corners of his lips turned up an evil smirk. “Gwen told me all about the wonderful Alice Harkness. I knew I had to talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you the killing of that useless Mudblood.”

“Don’t talk about Myrtle like that!” Alice shouted, her voice echoing in the cavernous chamber.

The memory rolled his eyes. “After that, Aurors watched this school like hawks. I knew it wouldn’t be safe for me to open the Chamber again while I was still in school. So, I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old in its pages, so that one day I would be able to lead another to Salazar Slytherin’s noble work.”

Alice smirked and folded her arms across her chest. “Sorry to burst your bubble,” she retorted. “But you haven’t finished anything. It won’t be long until the Mandrake draught is ready and everyone who was petrified will be okay again. You won’t even be able to tell anything happened to them.”

Riddle snickered. “Haven’t I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn’t matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been you.” Alice swallowed nervously and Riddle smirked. “How is that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you manage to escape without so much as a single blemish while Lord Voldemort’s powers were destroyed?”

Alice’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care how I escaped?” she snapped. “Voldemort was after your time.” She had an idea how she’d survived, but she wasn’t about to tell him her theory.

“Voldemort is my past, present and future,” Riddle stated. He turned his back to Alice, who considered running; but when he started using her wand to right in mid-air, she found herself captivated.

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Riddle waved his hand and the letters began to rearrange themselves to form four new words. 

I am Lord Voldemort

“You,” Alice breathed, taking a step back in fear. “You’re Voldemort.”

Riddle laughed loud, the sound dull and lifeless. “Surely you didn’t think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle father’s name?” He shook his head. “I fashioned myself a new name. A name I knew Wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world.”

Alice scoffed and shook her head. “Please. You’re not the greatest sorcerer in the world. You possessed a teacher last year and now you’re using an eleven-year-old girl to do your dirty work. That’s hardly the criteria for an all-powerful Wizard. Plus,” she continued, the corners of her mouth turning up in a smirk, “you were defeated by a helpless baby.”

Riddle’s eyes grew dark with hatred. “Enough,” he growled and Alice grinned to herself; knowing that she’d struck a cord with the memory. “I think it’s time the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Alice Harkness.”

~

**Chapter 19: The Basilisk**

Alice’s lungs burnt as she tried to force oxygen into her lungs. Even though she could move fast naturally, trying to outrun and Basilisk was no easy task: even if the snake had been blinded when it caught its eyes on the fangs of one of the huge snake statues.

She clamped a hand over her mouth and forced herself to try breathing through her nose when she sensed the snake slithering down the tunnel after her. She screwed her eyes closed and leant back against the grill behind her, pressing herself to it as much as possible.

The snake turned its head to face her and, slowly, she reached down; feeling relief flood her when her fingers curled around a rather large rock. Alice forced her eyes open and threw the rock down the tunnel away from her.

Almost immediately, the Basilisk lost interest in where Alice was hiding and began to follow the sound, slithering away down the tunnel.

She waited until the snake was a safe distance away from her, before sprinting down the corridor and heading back to the main chamber where Riddle was still with Gwen.

Painfully, she dropped to her knees and pressed a hand against Gwen’s. She was getting colder and her pulse was getting weaker. It wouldn’t be long, before Riddle’s plan succeeded and Gwen died.

“It’s fitting really,” Riddle commented idly, twirling Alice’s wand with his fingers. “That you injured me so long ago, and now I get my revenge.”

Before Riddle could gloat again, a loud shriek came from above them and they both looked up to see a bird fly past. It dropped something and Alice frowned deeply when she saw that it was the sorting hat; how that was going to help her, she had no idea.

“This is what the school send it’s great defender,” Riddle laughed manically. “An old hat?”

There was a crash from somewhere to Alice’s right and she looked around to see that the Basilisk had managed to free itself from the tunnel and was heading for her, looking even madder than it had previously.

“How am I supposed to kill it?” she whispered under her breath, backing away as she contemplated what her best route for escape was. 

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see what it was. She gave a gasp of surprise when she saw that there was a green and silver hilt sticking out of the hat.

“What the-?” Riddle began to ask, but Alice didn’t even hesitate.

She bent down, pulling the sword from the hat, just as the Basilisk lunged at her with its fangs bared. Alice crouched down and lunged the sword up in the air, closing her eyes as she pushed the weapon through the snake’s mouth.

Alice let out a cry of pain when she felt one of the Basilisk’s teeth sink into her arm and she automatically relinquished her grip on the sword as she fell to the ground, clutching at her arm in pain.

Together, her and Riddle watched as the snake flailed for a moment, before falling to the ground and going still once more.

Alice glanced down at her arm and grimaced when she saw the amount of blood coming from the wound. She winced as she saw a tooth lying on the ground covered in blood; clearly it had been knocked clean from the snake’s mouth when it hit the ground.

“You may have defeated the Basilisk,” Riddle stated. “But, it looks like I’ll still have my revenge. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, how quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? I doubt you have long to live.”

Riddle’s eyes flickered over to Gwen and a smirk flittered across his face. “Funny, the damage a silly little book can do. Especially in the hands of a silly little girl.”

Alice grinned as an idea came to mind and she grabbed the diary with her left hand – her right felt ten times heavier than it normally did. “What are you doing?” Riddle demanded, alarm showing in his eyes as he watched.

She didn’t answer as she reached for the dislodged tooth. Alice didn’t hesitate before plunging the tooth into the diary; watching in fascination as it appeared to bleed ink.

There was a blinding flash of light and Alice dropped the tooth, covering her eyes with her hand as she tried to see what was happening through the light. 

When the light dimmed and Alice could see once more, Riddle was nowhere insight; there was only her, Gwen and the dead Basilisk. “Gwen,” Alice whispered, reaching out with her left arm and shaking the young girl gently.

Slowly, Gwen’s began to stir and her eyes flickered, before they opened fully, revealing confused green eyes. “Alice?” she whispered, pushing herself into an upright position. “There’s something I need to tell you,” she began, but Alice held her hand up.

“I know,” the Slytherin stated. “It’s okay. He was controlling you, but he’s gone now.” She grimaced when she felt a bolt of pain shoot through her arm.

Gwen gasped in horror when she saw the blood. “You’re hurt!” the young Gryffindor exclaimed.

Alice shook her head, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing the sword with her good hand. “I’ll be okay,” she assured her. “But we need to get back to Owen and Draco. Hold this,” she added, handing Gwen the sword.

Gwen watched as Alice bent down and picked her wand up from where Riddle had dropped it, and grabbed the diary before leading Gwen down the corridor.

~

**Chapter 20: Return To The Hospital Wing**

Alice groaned and clutched her head when she was positive she felt her brain move. She chanced opening her eyes and grimaced when she realised that she was in the hospital wing. Again.

“I’d love to finish the year without ending up in here,” she muttered to herself.

“I’ve got to agree with you there,” the Doctor’s voice stated from the chair beside her bed. “I would prefer it you didn’t end up in here on a regular basis.”

Alice chuckled and tried to move her arm, hissing a little in pain. “Why does it still hurt?” she demanded, knowing that – even though the wound had been deep – Madame Pomfrey should have been able to patch her up with no problem.

“You had an allergic reaction to the potion that Madame Pomfrey used to try draw the blood out of you,” the Doctor advised her. “Many people are surprised that you managed to survive as long as you did. They don’t seem to be aware of your… unique abilities.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Wasn’t that one of your rules?” she snapped. “That no one was allowed to know the truth about me.”

The Doctor nodded. “It was,” he agreed. “I guessed I expected you to be more like your father. You’ve seen the way he dresses; subtly is definitely not his middle name.”

Alice chuckled and silently agreed with him; Jack Harkness did not know what that word meant most days. “Has he been here?” she asked, before berating herself for asking such a stupid question. There was no way the Doctor would let Jack into the school; no way he would trust him enough.

“He still is,” the Doctor agreed to her surprise. “I suggested he should get some rest.”

Alice raised an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. “And he listened to you?” she asked incredulously.

The Doctor smirked at her. “It’s amazing what a simple sleeping potion does to a person.” Alice’s jaw dropped open in surprise as she stared at him. The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, “He hadn’t slept for a week; it was for his own good.”

“I’ve been unconscious for a week?” Alice shrieked.

The Doctor nodded his head again. “Your arm will be feeling better in a few more days,” the Doctor informed her. “Now that you’re conscious again, you can start taking the potion Professor Hart has brewed specifically.”

Alice’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and she shook her head. “I’m not drinking anything he’s brewed for me,” she muttered, making the Doctor roll her eyes.

“Don’t tell me your father’s hatred for Professor Hart has been passed down to you as well,” he requested. “Professor Hart is an excellent potions maker and your head of house; he’s not going to do anything to hurt you.” Alice shook her head and the Doctor sighed. “Drinking the potion is for your own good, Alice,” he reminded her. “You either drink it voluntarily, or we force you to take it.”

The Slytherin scowled and glared at him for a long moment, before reluctantly nodding her head. “Fine,” she muttered. “Where did the diary come from?” she asked eventually.

“Ah,” the Doctor murmured. “Miss Harper confessed everything while you were unconscious. She said that she found it tucked at the back of one of the shelves in the library; the dust on the cover was so thick that it was obvious no one had touched it for years. The more she used it, the better the hold Riddle had on her.”

They were silent until the Doctor spoke again. “You really can’t keep getting into trouble like this every year, Alice,” he whispered. 

Alice’s eyes widened. “If I hadn’t have gone in there after Gwen, she would have died. None of the Professor’s knew how to open it, and you’d gone to London to see Saxon!”

“You could have opened the Chamber for the teachers and let them do their jobs,” the Doctor pointed out. “But, saying that, what you did was a very brave and selfless thing.”

Alice shrugged her shoulders, a light blush colouring her cheeks. “I couldn’t let Owen’s sister get hurt,” she muttered, waving her left hand dismissively. 

The Doctor smiled and patted her hand. “I’m sure Mr Harper is more than grateful to you for saving Gwen,” he assured her, getting to his feet and moving away from the bed. “I’ll let Madame Pomfrey know that you’re awake,” he added. “She’ll want to give you the potion as soon as possible.”

Alice grinned and nodded, watching as her great-uncle left the room, moments before it opened again and Pomfrey entered, holding a goblet that smelt vile even from across the room.

“You’re really going to make me drink that, aren’t you?” she whined, pouting up at Pomfrey when she nodded her head. 

“There’s no use trying that on me,” Pomfrey informed her, shaking her head as she made her way over to Alice. “I grew immune to the Harkness charm years ago.”

~

**Chapter 21: Let The Summer Begin**

Alice stepped off the train in Kings Cross and swallowed nervously when she saw Jack standing on the opposite end of the platform. News of what happened in the Chamber of Secrets had travelled fast through the school; although, some how, Draco had managed to avoid people finding out that he had been involved in what had happened at all.

Slowly she made her way down the platform, not stopping until she was standing in front of Jack. “Hi,” she whispered, barely able to look up into his eyes. 

She let out a gasp of surprise when Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered, pressing a kiss against her hair.

Alice grinned and hugged him tightly. “I’m okay, Dad,” she replied, burying her face in his chest and breathing in his scent. “I’m sorry for getting in trouble again,” she murmured. 

Jack laughed, running his hand up and down her back. “At least you’re okay,” he said softly. “You are okay, right?” he asked, pulling back and looking down into her eyes.

Alice nodded. “My arm’s completely healed,” she assured him. “And no one asked why the Basilisk venom didn’t kill me,” she added, grinning from ear to ear. 

Jack sighed with relief and kissed her forehead. “That’s great,” he murmured. “Ianto was worried about you as well,” he informed her, bending down and picking her trunk up.

“Does he… Does he know about us?” she asked lowering her voice to make sure that no one could hear her if they were trying to eavesdrop.

Jack nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed. “He was the second person to find out that I’m a vampire,” he told her. “Ianto knew before your mum did. Only the Doctor knew before him.”

Alice’s eyes widened in surprise at Jack’s confession; it had never occurred to her to wonder if her mum had known about the vampiric side of Jack. “How did she react?” she murmured, placing her hand in Jack’s as they headed down the platform to the barrier that would take them back to the Muggle world.

Jack sighed heavily and allowed Alice to go through the barrier first. “I don’t think you’re old enough for that story,” he stated, ushering her towards the taxi rank.

“But, Dad…” Alice began, but Jack shook his head.

“I don’t want you to think any less of her,” he murmured. “I’ll tell you when you’re fifteen,” he compromised. “And not a second before.”

Alice huffed indignantly and climbed into the taxi, folding her arms across her chest as she leant sulkily back in the chair. “Fine,” she muttered, glaring fiercely at him. “But as soon as the clock strikes midnight on my birthday, you’d better tell me.”

Jack tapped two fingers to his temple in a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am,” he retorted, leaning back and turning his attention to the window, glad that he had managed to dodge the issue for another three years.

The End


End file.
